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TO 

ANTON    SEIDL 

of  whom  Wagner  wrote  in  his  last  letter,  "  Seidl  delights 
me  greatly,"  and  who  first  made  Americans  acquainted 
with  the  greatest  of  Wagner's  music-dramas — "Tristan 
and  Isolde,"  "Die  Meistersinger,"  and  the  Nibelung 
Tetralogy  —  this  book  is  dedicated  by  the  author  as  a 
slight  return  for  the  pleasure  so  often  received  from 
his  poetic  and  inspired  interpretations. 


PREFACE 

Although  only  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since  Rich- 
ard Wagner  first  became  prominent  as  an  operatic  com- 
poser, it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  more  has  already 
been  written  and  printed  about  him  than  about  any  other 
dramatic  author  excepting  Shakespeare.  To  add  to  this 
collection  two  more  volumes  may  seem  a  rash  and  super- 
fluous proceeding;  but  if  the  reader  will  take  the  trouble 
to  compare  these  volumes  Avith  other  works  on  the  same 
subject,  he  will  see  at  a  glance  that  the  biographic 
treasures  had  been  very  far  from  exhausted  by  my  prede- 
cessors. There  are  many  short  AYagner  biographies  in 
the  market,  written  by  Tappert,  Muncker,  Pohl,  ISTohl, 
Gasperini,  Hueffer,  Dannreuther,  Kobbe,  and  others. 
Several  of  these  are  excellent  in  their  way,  but  they  all 
attempt  to  present,  in  from  a  hundred  to  two  hundred 
pages,  a  subject  which  requires  a  thousand  pages  for 
adequate  treatment. 

The  only  two  elaborate  biographies  are  Glasenapp's 
and  JuUien's.  Glasenapp,  having  been  the  first  in  the 
field,  had  to  do  some  hard  pioneer  work,  for  which  he 
deserves  credit.  But  his  treatise  exists  only  in  German, 
and  it  will  probably  never  be  translated,  as  it  is  too  ver- 
bose, and  contains  too  many  dry  details  of  merely  local 
interest.     Nor  is  it  complete ;    it  ends  with  the  Parsifal 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

year,  and  gives  no  account  of  Wagner's  death.  The 
operas,  too,  are  not  analyzed;  it  is  simply  a  biography. 
JuUien's  book  is  valuable  for  its  numerous  portraits,  car- 
icatures, and  other  illustrations,  as  well  as  for  the  light  it 
throws  on  the  French  episodes  in  Wagner's  life,  although 
in  this  respect  Servieres's  Wagner  Juge  en  France  is  more 
complete  and  entertaining.  For  other  tlian  French  read- 
ers Jullien  presents  his  subject  from  too  Gallic  a  point 
of  view.  Apparently  he  does  not  read  German,  since 
he  gets  his  views  of  Wagner's  literary  and  theoretical 
works  at  second  hand,  from  Grove's  Dictionary  and 
other  sources;  but  his  greatest  blemish  is  his  total  ina- 
bility to  understand  Wagner's  character.  This  character, 
owing  to  peculiar  circumstances,  was,  indeed,  often  as 
difficult  to  understand  as  the  "  Art-work  of  the  Future  " 
itself.  But  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  so  many 
enemies  as  Wagner  had,  it  is  tlie  duty  of  a  biographer  to 
carefully  verify  all  statements,  and  not  to  accept  as 
gospel  truth  stories  manufactured  by  hostile  newspapers. 
Wagner's  personality,  as  presented  by  Jullien,  is  as 
much  of  a  caricature  as  any  of  the  pictures  in  his  book. 
While  Jullien  misrepresents  his  character,  the  other 
biographers,  including  Glasenapp,  have  very  little  to  say 
about  it,  devoting  themselves  chiefly  to  his  writings, 
musical  and  literary.  It  is,  indeed,  only  since  the 
appearance  of  all  the  biographies  here  mentioned,  that 
an  opportunity  has  been  given  us  to  see  the  real  Wagner. 
The  three  volumes  of  letters  to  Liszt,  Uhlig,  Fischer, 
and  Heine  have  thrown  a  flood  of  light  on  his  person- 
ality, and  my  cordial  thanks  are  due  to  the  publishers 
for  permission  to  make  use  of  this  invaluable  source  of 
information  regarding  the  most  important  creative  period 


PREFACE  IX 

in  Wagner's  life,  the  years  of  his  exile.  I  also  wish  to 
thank  Messrs.  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co.  for  permission 
to  quote  from  the  interesting  new  material,  including 
forty  Wagner  letters,  contained  in  Praeger's  Wagner  as 
I  Knew  Him;  and  Mr.  Theodore  Thomas  for  kindly  plac- 
ing at  my  disposal  all  the  correspondence  relating  to  the 
Centennial  March.  Of  other  new  sources  of  information, 
I  must  mention  the  fifteen  letters  to  Frau  Wille,  printed 
in  the  Deutsche  Rundschau  in  1887  —  letters  which  bring 
the  most  romantic  episode  in  Wagner's  life  —  his  friend- 
ship with  King  Ludwig  —  vividly  before  our  eyes ;  and 
Oesterlein's  monumental  Wagner  Katalog  in  three  vol- 
umes, containing  references  to  about  30,000  letters  and 
other  documents  bearing  on  Wagner  and  his  friends 
and  artists  —  a  work  which  immensely  facilitated  my 
researches  in  German  libraries.  Personally  I  am  in- 
debted to  Herr  Oesterlein  for  placing  the  treasures  of 
his  Museum,  including  some  valuable  manuscripts,  at 
my  disposal,  at  a  considerable  sacrifice  of  his  time. 

I  think  I  may  safely  say  that  I  am  indebted  to  previ- 
ous biographers  for  less  than  a  twentieth  part  of  the 
material  contained  in  these  two  volumes;  all  the  rest  is 
based  on  my  personal  experiences,  on  Wagner's  own 
autobiographic  writings,  and  other  original  documents, 
including  a  collection  of  Wagner iana  which  I  began 
seventeen  years  ago,  and  which  I  have  found  of  great 
use,  especially  in  the  chapters  relating  to  the  critics. 
Some  readers  may  tliink  that  too  much  space  has  been 
devoted  to  these  hostile  criticisms,  and  that  some  of  the 
quotations  are  cruel,  inasmuch  as  the  writers  have  since 
become  partial  or  complete  converts.  I  have  indeed 
mercilessly  quoted  their  own  ivords,  but  the  cruelty  is  not 


X  PREFACE 

mine.  These  critics  are  self-impaled;  they  helped  to 
make  Wagnerian  history,  and  I,  as  veracious  historian, 
am  bound  to  chronicle  the  facts.  Besides,  these  men  had 
no  end  of  fun  in  ridiculing  Wagner  and  his  admirers  in 
former  years ;  now  that  the  tide  has  turned,  have  we  not 
a  right  to  a  little  fun  at  their  expense?  The  comicality 
of  these  criticisms  will,  like  good  wine,  still  further  im- 
prove with  age;  and  these  opinions  have  also  a  serious 
value  as  contributions  to  the  history  of  aesthetic  taste. 
Schiller  once  suggested  that  the  hundreds  of  similar 
criticisms  on  him  and  Goethe  should  be  collected  for 
such  a  purpose. 

As  regards  the  plan  of  this  book,  I  have  endeavored 
to  avoid  what  might  be  called  the  chronological-mosaic 
style  of  biography,  which  consists  in  presenting  the 
facts  in  loose  connection,  in  the  year  and  month  they 
occurred  in.  The  arrangement  here  adopted  of  present- 
ing the  various  phases  of  Wagner's  history,  activity,  and 
personality  in  pictures  complete  in  themselves,  without 
neglecting  the  main  chronological  divisions,  will,  I  hope, 
commend  itself  to  the  reader.  This  method  is  facilitated 
by  the  roving  life  Wagner  led  —  the  constant  changes  of 
residence  from  Dresden  to  Paris,  to  London,  Vienna, 
Venice,  Zurich,  Lucerne,  etc.,  which  add  so  much  to  the 
interest  of  his  career.  The  frequent  subdivisions  into 
chapters  and  sub-chapters  make  it  easy  for  readers  who 
care  only  for  the  biography,  to  skip  the  other  parts. 
But  Wagner  the  man  was  so  thoroughly  identified  with 
Wagner  the  artist,  that  a  complete  biography  had  to 
include  a  consideration  of  his  works  too. 

H.  T.  F. 

New  York,  March  1,  1893. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I 

rASB 

PRELUDE  — POETIC  PROPHESIES  1 

A   THEATRICAL   FAMILY 5 

RICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 10 

A  Versatile  Stepfather 11 

Weber  in  Dresden 13 

First  Musical  Impressions 15 

Richard  not  a  Prodigy  —  and  why 16 

Boyhood  Anecdotes 21 

Richard  turns  to  Music 24 

Concert  Pieces 28 

Worship  of  Beethoven 31 

A  Second  Symphony 34 

THE  FIRST  OPERAS 35 

The  Wedding 35 

The  Fairies ST^ 

At  Magdeburg  —  A  Step  Backward 41 

The  Novice  of  Palermo 43 

First  Critical  Essay 48 

KONIGSBERG  and  RIGA 51 

An  Imprudent  Marriage 51 

xi 


xil  CONTENTS 

FAOE 

The  Happy  Bear  Family 67 

Two  Acts  of  Kienzi 59 

A  EoMANTic  Episode 26 

FIRST  VISIT   TO   PAEIS 65 

A  Stormy  Sea- Voyage 65 

A  Series  of  Disappointments 68 

Loss  OF  THE  Columbus  Overture 77 

Musical  Drudgery 79 

Stories  and  Essays 81 

"-Truth  in  Fiction  —  Personal  Revelations 82 

In  the  Workshop  of  Genius 86 

The  Lion  shows  his  Claws 87 

Composition  of  the  Flying  Dutchman 89 

RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 93 

Preliminary  Letters 93 

First  Performance  of  Rienzi ^99, 

The  Story  of  Rienzi 105 

Wagner's  Opinion  of  Rienzi 108 

An  Undiplomatic  Speech 112 

Merits  and  Demerits  of  Rienzi 112 

^fJhrUB  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 116 

/              Story  op  the  Flying  Dutchman 119 

Poetic  and  Musical  Characteristics 125 

Wagner's  Opinion  of  this  Opera 131 

^'Critical  Philistines  and  Prophets 132 

Berlioz,  Cornelius,  Liszt,  and  Spohr 138 

What  Beethoven  would  have  said 141 


CONTENTS  Xlil 

PAGE 

WAGNER  AS   ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 144 

The  Love  Feast  of  the  Apostles 146 

Webek's  Remains  transferred  to  Dresden 147 

A  Surprising  Beethoven  Performance 151 

Uhlig,  Bach,  Palestkina 155 

What  Wagner  did  for  Gluck 157 

U^wo  Spontini  Anecdotes 161 

TANNHAUSER   IN  DRESDEN 163 

The  Story  of  Tannhauser 164 

The  Poem  and  the  Music 173  • 

Is  Tannhauser  a  Music-Drama? 176 

The  First  Performances 181 

Why  the  Ending  was  changed 186 

\,;G^itical  Philistines  and  Prophets 187 

Liszt,  Spohr,  and  Schumann 193 , 

REVOLUTION  — ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 199 

Creation  of  Lohengrin 199 

'Why  Wagner  became  a  Rebel 200 

Reform  or  Revolution  ? 205 

Flight  to  Weimar , . . . .  '  220 

Wanted  by  the  Police 224 

In  Paris  again 226 

Minna  Wagner  joins  her  Husband 228 

WiELAND    THE    SmITH , 232 

LOHENGRIN    AT   WEIMAR 235 

Doubt  and  Daring , 235 

The  Story  of  Lohengrin 240 


Xiv  CONTENTS 

PAOK 

(^J)The  First  Performance 247 

^»")  Wagner's  Opinion  of  Lohengrin 251 

Liszt  on  Lohengrin 255 

Robert  Franz  on  Lohengrin 259 

y^  Further  Comments 263 

'  Progress  of  Lohengrin 271 

i/Critical  Philistines  and  Prophets 277 


(v 


LITERARY  PERIOD 288 


(       \ 


Six  Years  Lost  to  Music 288 

Art  and  Revolution 291 

The  Art- Work  of  the  Future 293 

Opera  and  Drama 296 

Evolution  of  the  Opera 300 

A  Communication  to  my  Friends 306 

Wagner's  Opinion  of  Other  Composers 308 

Judaism  in  Music 322 

WELDING  THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 348 

How  the  Poem  was  written 348 

Life  in  Zurich 369 

A  Modern  Prometheus 365 

The  "Circus  Hulsen"  in  Berlin 374 

Money  Troubles 382 

Friends  in  Need 390 

Hygiene  and  Gastronomy  . , o 396 

Love  of  Nature  and  Travel 404 

Composition  of  Rheingold 409 

A  Faust  Overture 412 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGK 

WAS   WAGNER   A   GREAT  CONDUCTOR  ? 420 

A  Thorough  Drill-Master 421 

Principles  of  Interpretation 424 

Testimony  of  Experts 432 

Concerts  and  Operas  in  Zurich 435 

Four  Months  in  London 443 


PRELUDE.  —  POETIC  PROPHECIES 

"Hitherto  Apollo  has  always  distributecl  ine  poetic  gift  with 
his  right  hand,  the  musical  with  his  left,  to  two  persons  so  widely 
apart  that  up  to  this  hour  we  are  still  waiting  for  the  man  who 
will  create  a  genuine  opera  by  writing  both  its  text  and  its  music." 

Perhaps  there  is  not,  in  the  whole  history  of  the  fine 
arts,  a  more  curious  coincidence  than  is  contained  in  the 
fact  that  the  foregoing  sentence  was  penned  by  the  emi- 
nent German  novelist  Jean  Paul,  not  only  in  the  same 
year  that   Richard  Wagner  was  born,  but  in  the  same 
quiet  town  of  Bayreuth,  where,  sixty-three  years  later, 
the  ideal  of  a  musico-dramatic  art  in  which  poem  and 
music  are  of  equal  value,  was  first  revealed  in  the  Wag- 
^  ner  Theatre,  specially  built  for  the  purpose. 
^       Jean  Paul  was  by  no  means  the  only  German  author, 
»    nor   the   first   one,   who  longed  for   and   predicted   the 
♦^  appearance  of  a  poet-composer  who  would  destroy  the 
'    crude  mosaic  of  various  arts,  known  as  Italian  opera, 
^  iuid  create  in  its  place  a  genuine  music-drama  in  which 
poetry,  action,  scene-painting,  and   music  would  all  be 
treated  with  equal  artistic  care,  and  combined  into  a 
harmonious  whole.     Almost  all  the  great  German  poets 
expressed  similar  longings.     Lessing,  who  died  thirty- 
two  years  before  Wagner  was   born,  wrote   that   *'the 
affinity  between  poetry  and  music  is  so  great  that  Nature 
herself  seems  to  have  destined  them,  not  so  much  for  a 

1 


2  PRELUDE 

combination  as  for  one  and  the  same  art.  There  was 
indeed  a  time  when  the  two  were  united  as  one  art.  I 
do  not  care  to  assert  that  the  process  of  their  separation 
was  not  a  natural  one,  still  less  to  censure  the  special 
cultivation  of  one  or  the  other  separate  art;  but  I  may 
be  permitted  to  express  my  regrets  that,  in  consequence 
of  this  separation,  a»,unioi;i  of  the  ^wo  arts  is  hardly  ever 
thought  of;  or,  if  thought  of,  one  of  them  is  made  a  mere 
handmaid  of  the  other,  so  that  we  have  no  such  thing  as 
a  simultaneous  effect  produced  by  the  two  arts  in  equal 
proportions." 

Herder,  who  died  ten  years  before  Wagner  was  born, 
expressed  his  belief  in  the  advent  of  a  composer  who 
would  annihilate  the  old  operatic  kling-klang  and  "  erect 
an  Odeon,  a  coherent  lyric  structure  in  which  poetry, 
music,  action,  and  scenery  Avould  be  one  and  united." 
Wieland,  in  1775,  hailed  Gluck  as  a  reformer  of  the 
opera,  but  added  that  others  like  him  would  be  needed 
before  the  sirens  could  be  banished  from  the  stage  and 
the  muses  restored.  "  Enough  that  he  has  shown  us  what 
music  could  do  if,  in  these  days,  there  were,  somewhere 
in  Europe,  an  Athens,  and  in  this  Athens  there  appeared 
a  Pericles  who  would  do  for  the  opera  (Singspiel)  what 
that  statesman  did  for  the  tragedy  of  Sophocles  and 
Euripides." 

Substitute  for  "  Athens  "  Bayreuth,  and  for  "  Pericles  " 
King  Ludwig  II.  of  Bavaria,  and  we  have  here  another 
historic  anticipation  as  striking  as  Jean  Paul's.  To  cite 
only  one  more  poet,  Schiller,  who  died  eight  years  before 
Wagner  was  born,  wrote :  "  I  always  had  a  certain  faith 
in  the  opera,  believing  that  from  it,  as  formerly  from  the 
choruses  of   the  ancient  Bacchus  festivals,  the  tragedy 


POETIC  PROPHECIES  3 

might  be  evolved  in  a  nobler  form."  Could  Schiller 
have  lived  to  hear  tlie  Gotterdammerung,  the  most  power- 
ful tragedy  since  Hamlet  and  Kixy  Lear  were  written,  he 
would  have  undoubtedly  confessed  that  his  confidence  in 
the  opera  had  not  been  misplaced. 

It  is  certainly  a  most  signiftcant  fact  that  five  of  the 
most  eminent  literary  men  of  Germany, —  Schiller,  Less- 
ing,  Herder,  Wieland,  and  Jean  Paul, —  two  of  whom  are 
Germany's  greatest  dramatic  poets,  should  have  indorsed  A-- 
Wagner's  ideal  of  a  music-drama  by  anticipation.     And^" 
if  it  was  the  literary  geniuses  wlio  first  broached  the  plan     \ 
of   a   perfect   music-drama,  in  which   poetry  should  no       I   >♦ 
longer  be  the  handmaid  of  music  but  its  equal,  it  was  the       I      *~*'^ 
rmisical    geniuses    among    Wagner's    contemporaries  —      / 
Spohr,    Liszt,    Biilow,   Eaff,    Cornelius,    Tausig,    Koberty 
Franz  —  who  first  saw  that  he  had  realized  that  ideal  i^^ 
his  operas:  a  fresh  confirmation  of  the  dictum  that  it 
takes  genius  to  appreciate  genius  —  at  least  on  its  first 
appearance.     The  professional  musicians  and  critics,  on 
the  other  hand,  fought  tooth  and  nail  against  Wagner's 
attempt  to  expel  the  sirens  from  the  stage  and  to  restore 
the  muses.      He  was  attacked,  lied  about,  vilified,  with 
a  fury  and  persistence  that  seem  almost  incredible  to-day, 
even  to  those  of  us  who  have  lived  through  part  of  this 
Forty  Years'   War.      Ignorance,  love  of  routine,  fanat- 
icism, chauvinism,  race  hatred,  pedantry,  and  philistin- 
ism  united  in  waging  a  war  against  one  man  such  as  no 
other  man  outside  of  politics  and  religion  has  ever  been 
confronted  with.     The  books,  pamphlets,  and  newspaper 
articles  that  served  as  ammunition  on  both  sides  would 
fill  the  largest  building  in  the  land;  and  how  bitter  the 
feeling  has   been,    future   generations   will   be   able   to 


"> 


4  PRELUDE 

understand  when  they  read  that  in  German  society,  for 
many  years,  it  was  considered  bad  form  to  speak  of 
Wagner,  because  of  the  violent  conversational  collisions 
sure  to  follow;  and  that  a  club  in  New  York  gave  a  semi- 
humorous  point  to  the  matter  by  posting  a  placard 
announcing  as  forbidden  topics  of  discussion,  "  Religion, 
Politics,  and  Wagner."  It  is  this  Forty  Years'  War  of 
Genius  against  Philistinism  that  will  form  the  plot  of 
the  romantic  story  of  Wagner's  life. 


A  THEATRICAL  FAMILY 

That  very  prevalent  form  of  liuman  vanity  which 
bases  a  family's  claim  to  aristocratic  distinction  on  the 
fact  that  its  ancestors  can  be  traced  back  several  genera- 
tions, ought  to  receive  a  rude  shock  from  the  discovery 
that  in  the  case  of  the  greatest  men  of  genius  —  who  form 
the  only  true  aristocracy  —  the  pedigree  is  almost  always 
unknown.  Richard  Wagner  forms  no  exception  to  this 
rule.  His  industrious  German  biographers  have  not  yet 
succeeded  in  tracing  his  genealogy  farther  back  than  to  X 
his  grandfather,  Gottlob  Friedrich  Wagner,  who  was  only 
a  humble  custom-house  official  in  Leipzig,  where  he  had 
to  see  that  nothing  was  smuggled  through  the  city  gates. 
His  son  Friedrich  (Richard  Wagner's  father,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  year  as  Beethoven  — 1770)  rose  some- 
what higher  in  the  social  scale.  He  began  as  clerk  in 
the  city  courts,  but  on  account  of  his  superior  intelligence 
and  knowledge  of  French  he  was,  during  the  French  occu- 
pation of  Leipzig,  entrusted  with  the  task  of  reorganizing 
the  police  system,  and  appointed  chief  of  police  by  Mar- 
shal Davoust. 

It  is  possible  that  Richard  Wagner  may  have  inherited 
some  of  his  pugnacious  disposition  from  his  father's 
occupation.  One  thing  he  certainly  did  inherit  from 
him,  and  that  is  his  love  of  the  theatre  —  a  trait  which 
characterized   almost   all  the  members  of  the  Wagner 

6 


6  A   THEATRICAL  FAMILY 

family  (both  in  the  ascending  and  the  descending  scale) 
of  whom  any  record  has  been  preserved.  Nor  was  it 
merely  a  fondness  for  tlieatrical  performances,  but  a 
special  talent  for  taking  part  in  them.  To  cite  a  few 
instances :  Richard's  father  had  the  privilege  of  being 
one  of  those  who  witnessed  the  first  performance  in  Leip- 
zig of  Schiller's  Jungfrau  von  Oiieayis,  in  the  poet's  pres- 
ence; and  he  also  appeared  occasionally  as  an  amateur 
actor  before  an  audience  including  royal  spectators.  Then 
there  was  Richard's  uncle,  Adolf  Wagner,  who  does  not 
appear  to  have  acted,  but  who  manifested  his  interest  in 
the  theatre  in  the  higher  sphere  of  playwright  and  other- 
wiser  His  first  printed  essay  was  on  the  Alcestis  of  Eurip- 
ides, which  was  followed  by  a  satiric  comedy  of  his  own, 
numerous  translations,  a  contribution  to  the  history  of 
the  theatre,  an  essay  on  the  theory  of  the  comic,  etc. ; 
and  what  is  of  special  interest  with  reference  to  his 
nephew's  later  aspirations,  is  the  fact,  exhumed  by  Herr 
Glasenapp,  that  in  1806  he  arranged  a  careful  perform- 
ance, on  the  amateur  stage,  of  Apel's  Polyidos  after  the 
manner  of  the  antique  tragedy,  superintending  all  the 
details  personally.-^ 

Of  Ricliard's  three  brothers  and  four  sisters,  several 
distinguished  themselves  in  connection  with  the  stage. 
Albert,  who  was  born  fourteen  years  before  Richard, 
acquired  fame  as  vocalist,  actor,  and  stage-manager. 
When  he  was  leading  tenor  at  Breslau,  a  critic  wrote: 
"  His  method  is  good,  his  trill  beautiful,  his  voice  power- 
ful, although  somewhat  affected  by  the  climate."     Rich- 

1  Lists  of  Adolf  Wagner's  writings  and  translations  may  be  found  in 
Oesterlein's  Wagner  Katalog,  III.  438-9,  and  in  Glasenapp's  biographic 
sketch  of  Richard's  uncle,  in  the  Bayreuther  Blatter,  1885,  pp.  197-223. 


A   THEATRICAL  FAMILY  t 

ard's  oldest  sister,  Kosalie,  was  specially  educated  for 
the  stage;  she  became  a  leading  actress  at  the  Leipzig 
theatre,  and  in  some  roles  was  preferred  even  to  the 
famous  Schroeder-Devrient,  to  whom  Richard  owed  so 
much  of  his  inspiration,  as  we  shall  see  later  on.  The 
eminent  critic,  H.  Laube,  wrote  that  he  had  never  seen 
Goethe's  Gretchen  enacted  with  such  deep  feeling  as  by 
Kosalie  Wagner :  — 

"  For  the  first  time  the  expression  of  Gretchen's  madness  thrilled 
me  to  the  marrow,  and  I  soon  discovered  the  reason.  Most  actresses 
exaggerate  the  madness  into  unnatural  pathos  ;  they  declaim  in  a 
hollow  ghostly  voice.  Demoiselle  Wagner  used  the  same  voice  with 
which  she  had  shortly  before  uttered  her  thoughts  of  love  ;  this 
gruesome  contrast  produced  the  greatest  effect." 

The  critic  who  wrote  these  lines  was  also  one  of  the 
earliest  to  discover  the  dramatic  genius  of  Wagner  in  his 
first  creative  period.  The  two  parted  company  when 
Wagner  produced  those  later  music-dramas  on  which  his 
claims  to  immortality  chiefly  rest;  yet  the  world  will 
always  be  indebted  to  Heinrich  Laube  for  the  existence 
of  the  charmingly  simple  and  partly  ironic  autobiography 
which  takes  up  the  first  twenty  pages  of  the  first  volume 
of  Wagner's  Collected  Writings.  It  covers  the  first 
twenty-nine  years  of  his  life,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  written  are  of  interest.  Laube,  who 
was  about  to  assume  editorial  control  of  the  Zeitung  fiir 
die  Elegante  Welt,  wrote  to  Wagner  for  a  sketch  of  his 
life  which  miglit  be  elaborated  into  a  biographic  article. 
Wagner  complied,  but  when  Laube  received  his  manu- 
script, he  decided  to  print  it  as  it  was,  remarking,  in  a 
prefatory  notice,  that  he  had  expected  a  sketch  only: 
"but  the  Paris  experiences  have  made  of  the  musician 


8  A    THEATRICAL   FAMILY 

an  author  too :  I  should  only  spoil  the  biographic  sketch, 
were  I  to  make  any  alterations."  He  was  right,  and  this 
sketch  ^  remains  to  the  present  day  one  of  the  few  reliable 
sources  of  information  regarding  Wagner's  childhood. 

Besides  Rosalie,  Richard's  sister  Luise  appeared  as  an 
actress,  and  Klara  was  educated  to  appear  in  Italian 
opera,  but  subsequently  married  a  member  of  the  Brock- 
haus  family,  of  encyclopsedia  fame.  To  this  list  of 
theatrical  sisters,  brother,  uncle,  and  father,  must  be 
added  two  nieces,  Albert's  daughters,  Johanna  and  Fran- 
zisca,  the  former  of  whom  was  one  of  the  most  famous 
dramatic  singers  of  her  time.  She  was  the  first  to  sing 
the  part  of  Elizabeth  in  Tannhduser,  and  at  the  end  of 
her  brilliant  career  was  offered  the  Professorship  of 
Dramatic  Singing  in  the  Royal  School  of  Music  at  Mu- 
nich, which  she  accepted,  "  in  the  hope  of  training  young 
artists  in  the  spirit  and  traditions  of  her  uncle,  to  be 
worthy  interpreters  of  his  works."  ^ 

Not  content  with  thus  diffusing  a  theatrical  spirit 
throughout  the  Wagner  family,  the  Fates  ordained  that 
Richard  should,  before  he  reached  his  third  birthday, 
receive  a  stepfather  who  was  a  noted  professional  actor 
—  Ludwig  Geyer.  After  appearing  with  success  in  vari- 
ous German  cities,  Geyer  received  an  appointment  at  the 
Dresden  theatre,  with  a  salary  of  1040  thaler,  and  the 
obligation  to  appear  only  once  or  twice  a  week;  which 
left  him  plenty  of  time  for  his  other  occupations,  of  which 
more  will   be   said  presently.      The   critics    especially 

1  An  English  translation  of  it  will  be  found  in  Burlingame's  Wag- 
ner's Art  Life  and  Theories,  and  a  French  version  in  Benoit's  R.  Wag- 
ner Souvenirs. 

2  Grove's  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musicians,  IV.  346. 


A   THEATRICAL   FAMILY  9 

emphasized  his  versatility  as  an  actor;  and  the  attitude 
of  the  audiences  is  slioAvn  by  the  fact  that  once,  on  his 
return  to  the  Leipzig  tlieatre,  he  was  applauded  so  rap- 
turously that  he  dropped  his  role  for  a  moment  and  made 
a  speech  of  thanks  —  an  inartistic  proceeding  which  gave 
rise  to  sarcastic  comment,  and  which  lie  himself  deeply 
regretted  afterwards. 


RICHARD   WAGNER'S    CHILDHOOD 

The  house  in  which  Rich  arc!  Wagner  was  born,  in 
Leipzig,  does  not  exist  any  more.  It  was  located  in  the 
Briihl,  Number  88,  but  was  found  unsafe,  in  1885,  and 
torn  down.  The  buikling  which  has  been  erected  in  its 
place  bears  a  tablet  (visible  from  the  courtyard)  with  the 
information  that  Richard  Wagner  was  born  there  on 
May  22,  1813.  The  time  of  his  birth  was  one  of  great 
importance  in  the  military  history  of  Germany,  and 
lovers  of  coincidence  will  find  satisfaction  in  the  circum- 
stance that  the  composer  who  was  destined  to  free  German 
music  from  foreign  influences  and  establish  a  national 
art,  was  born  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  city  of 
Leipzig,  where  the  great  battles  were  fought  which  at 
last  freed  Germany  from  the  French  invaders.  But  the 
Wagner  family  had  to  pay  dearly  for  this  victory.  The 
consequence  of  the  great  carnage  in  the  battle-field  of 
Leipzig  was  an  epidemic  fever  which  carried  off  many 
victims,  among  them  Friedrich  Wagner,  on  the  very  day 
when  his  little  son  Richard  completed  the  first  half-year 
of  his  life.  In  the  following  month  his  brother  Albert 
also  had  an  attack  of  typhoid  fever,  and  even  Richard 
appears  to  have  had  symptoms ;  his  health  was  so  poor  as 
to  worry  his  mother,  and  remained  in  an  unsatisfactory 
condition  until  he  reached  his  fourth  birthday. 
10 


A    VERSATILE  STEPFATHER  11 


A   VERSATILE   STEPFATHER 

Poor  widow  Wagner  was  left  in  a  sorry  predicament, 
with  a  numerous  progeny  and  nothing  to  support  them 
but  a  small  pension  from  the  government.  Under  these 
circumstances  she  can  hardly  be  blamed  for  not  observing 
the  customary  year  of  mourning.  Men  who  are  willing 
to  marry  a  widow  with  seven  children,  the  oldest  of 
whom  is  only  fourteen,  are  not  over-abundant;  and  the 
impecunious  widow,  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  her  chil- 
dren, therefore  acted  wisely  in  marrying,  though  only 
about  nine  months  had  elapsed  since  her  husband's 
death,  an  old  friend  of  the  family  who  was  willing  to 
take  upon  himself  such  a  burden  for  the  love  he  bore  the 
widow.  ^  This  act  in  itself  affords  the  best  possible  tes- 
timony regarding  the  character  and  the  attractiveness  of 
Richard's  mother,  concerning  whom  otherwise  little  is 
known.  Her  brightness  and  amiability  appear  to  have 
made  her  especially  congenial  to  artists,  and  among  those 
who  occasionally  dropped  in  for  a  friendly  chat  with  her 
was  not  less  a  personage  than  Weber,  the  creator  of  the 
opera  (Der  Freischiitz)  which  first  aroused  young  Rich- 
ard's musical  instincts. 

Throughout  his  life  Richard  Wagner  referred  to  his 
mother  as  mein  liebes  Miitterchen  (my  dear  little  mother), 
and  at  the  age  of  forty -three  he  told  his  friend  Praeger  ^ 

I  Glasenapp,  in  his  biography  of  Wagner  (1882,  I.  p.  12),  states  that 
Geyer  married  the  widow  Wagner  two  years  after  lier  husliand's  death ; 
but  in  the  Waijner  Jahrbuch  (188(i,  p.  4.5)  lie  gives  more  precise  data, 
which  lead  to  the  conclusion  here  adopted.  Nine  months  after  Frau 
Wagner's  second  marriage,  Ciicilie  Geyer  was  born,  who  subsequently 
married  Eduard  Avenarius,  to  whose  son  we  are  indebted  for  some 
reminiscences  of  Richard's  childhood. 

=*  Wagner  as  I  Knew  Him,  London,  1892,  p.  12. 


12  RICUARB    WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

that  he  could  not  then  see  a  lighted  Christmas  tree  with- 
out thinking  ol  the  kind  woman,  nor  prevent  the  tears 
starting  to  his  eyes  when  he  thought  of  the  unceasing 
activity  of  that  little  creature  for  the  comfort  and  welfare 
of  her  children.  Praeger  is  doubtless  riglit  in  suggesting 
that  the  exquisitely  tender  strains  in  Siegfried  with  which 
the  orchestra  accompanies  the  references  to  Siegfried's 
mother,  symbolize  Wagner's  love  for  his  own  mother. 

"I  verily  believe,"  he  says,  "that  Richard  "Wagner  never  loved 
any  one  so  deeply  as  his  liebes  Miitterchen.  All  his  references  to 
her  of  his  childhood  period  were  of  affection,  amounting  almost  to 
Idolatry.  With  that  instinctive  power  of  unreasoned  yet  unerring 
perception  possessed  by  women,  she  from  his  childhood  felt  the 
gigantic  brain  power  of  the  boy,  and  his  love  for  her  was  not  un- 
mixed with  gratitude  for  her  tacit  acknowledgment  of  his  genius." 

Ludwig  Geyer,  who  married  this  widow  with  seven 
children,  was,  as  already  stated,  a  distinguished  actor. 
But  acting  was  by  no  means  his  only  accomplishment; 
indeed,  his  gifts  appear  to  have  been  almost  as  varied  as 
those  of  his  talented  stepson  Eichard.  He  wrote  a 
number  of  comedies,  the  best  of  which,  Der  Bethlehemi- 
tische  Kindermord,  exists  in  four  editions  and  was  often 
played.^  Geyer's  third  gift,  which  seems  to  have  almost 
amounted  to  genius,  was  his  skill  as  a  portrait-painter. 
He  was  indeed  a  painter  before  he  became  an  actor,  and 
retained  the  pencil  even  after  he  had  gone  on  the  stage. 
The  critics  noted  the  influence  of  the  actor  on  the  painter 
in  teaching  him  to  seize  on  those  peculiarities  of  facial 
expression    of   the    emotions   which,   through   constant 

1  In  1873  a  performance  of  it  was  given  at  Bayreuth,  on  the  sixtieth 
birthday  of  Wagner,  who  was  greatly  pleased  by  this  opportunity  to 
renew  the  impressions  of  his  youth. 


WEBER   IN  DRESDEN  13 

repetition,  become  fixed,  and  thus  constitute  physiog- 
nomic individuality.  He  had  the  honor  of  being  asked 
to  paint  the  portraits  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Saxony, 
and  on  one  of  his  theatrical  visits  to  Munich  he  painted 
many  members  of  the  highest  aristocratic  and  military 
circles. 

WEBER   IN   DRESDEN 

But  it  is  the  fourth  accomplishment  of  the_.y.ej?satile- 
Geyei.  that  chiefly  interests  the  admirers  of  Wagner, 
because  it  is  connected  with  the  real  beginnings  of  Ger- 
m"a&>opei;a  in  Germany.  Besides  being  an  actor,  a  play- 
wright, and  portrait -painter,  Geyer  was  also  a  tenor,  and 
he  had  the  honor  of  appearing  as  such  in  Joseph  in  Egypt, 
the  first  performance  given  under  Weber's  direction  after 
his^  appointment  as  conductor  at  the  Dresden  Opei:a. 
Previous  to  Weber's  advent  in  Dresden  the  opera  there 
had  been  exclusively  Italian,  and  even  when  a  German 
opera  was  given,  it  had  to  be  first  translated  into  Italian. 
In  1815  Count  Vitzthum  induced  the  King  to  found  a 
German  opera  as  a  sister  institution  to  the  Italian,  and 
Weber  was  chosen  to  superintend  it.  The  Italians,  who 
had  previously  monopolized  affairs,  became  jealous  at 
this,  and  a  series  of  ignoble  intrigues  commenced,  in 
which  the  court  and  the  press  were  not  on  the  side  of  the 
honest  German  composer,  but  of  the  insolent,  proud 
foreigners.  Weber  was  attacked  with  very  much  the 
same  weapons  which  Avere  used  subsequently  to  harass 
and  torture  Wagner  all  his  life.  Fortvmately  Weber, 
without  being  as  pugnacious,  as  Wagner,  possessed  the 
same  iron  will  and  conscientious  devotion  to  what  he 
considered  his  duties  towards  his  art  and  his  ideals.  When 


14  RICHARD    WAGNEIVS   CHILDHOOD 

an  attempt  was  made  to  give  him  merely  the  title  of 
Musikdirector  instead  oi  CajieUmeiste^',  which  would  have 
ranked  him  lower  than  Morlacchi,  the  conductor  of  the 
Italian  opera,  he  replied:  — 

"  I  do  not  demand  any  more  than  what  was  offered  me,  and  what 
T  accepted  ;  but  I  cannot  allow  any  deviations,  and  least  of  all  allow 
myself  to  be  placed  under  Morlacchi.  German  and  Italian  art  must 
have  equal  rights,  for  I  do  not  desire,  either,  to  be  placed  above 
him.    The  world  will  doubtless  decide  which  of  us  is  the  first." 

The  Italian  company,  however,  had  the  best  singers, 
and  Weber,  to  complete  his  casts,  was  obliged  to  call 
upon  the  local  actors  and  actresses.  It  was  thus  that 
Geyer,  the  actor,  came  to  be  a  member  of  the  lirst  Ger- 
man Opera  in  Dresden;  and  the  fact  is  suggestive  and 
prophetic,  as  it  were;  for  it  was  Richard  Wagner's  car- 
dinal maxim  that  operas  should  be  above  all  things 
dramas,  and  operatic  singers,  actors. 

One  more  utterance  of  Weber's  may  be  appropriately 
quoted  here,  because  it  shows  how  similar  his  views  were 
to  Wagner's,  and  confirms  the  truthfulness  of  Cornelius's 
fine  saying  that  "  Weber  was  a  genius  who  died  of  the 
longing  to  become  Wagner. "  Wagner  is  rooted  in  Weber, 
in  his  music  as  in  his  ideals  (a  point  which  will  be  dwelt 
on  at  length  in  a  future  chapter),  and  the  following 
words,  written  by  Weber  when  he  first  tried  to  establish 
German  opera  in  Dresden,  are  strikingly  similar  to  those 
which  Wagner  uttered  more  than  half  a  century  later,  at 
Bayreuth :  — 

"The  Italians  and  the  French  have  fashioned  for  themselves  a 
distinct  form  of  opera,  with  a  framework  which  allows  them  to 
move  with  ease  and  freedom.  Not  so  the  Germans.  Eager  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  constantly  yearning  after  progress, 


FIRST  MUSWAL   IMPRESSIONS  15 

they  endeavor  to  appropriate  anything  which  they  see  to  be  good 
in  others.  But  they  take  it  all  so  much  more  seriously.  With  the 
rest  of  the  world  the  gratification  of  the  senses  is  the  main  object ; 
the  German  wants  a  work  of  art  complete  in  itself,  with  each  part 
rounded  off  and  compacted  into  a  perfect  whole.  For  him,  there- 
fore, a  fine  ensemble  is  the  prime  necessity." 

FIRST    MUSICAL   IMPRESSIONS 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Weber's  opportune  arrival 
in  Dresden  to  found  a  German  Opera  had  much  influence 
in  moulding  the  musical  taste  and  inclinations  of  young 
Eichard  Wagner.  His  mother's  marriage  to  Geyer,  who 
was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Court  Theatre,  of 
course  caused  the  family  to  remove  to  that  citj",  where 
Richard  had  frequent  opportunity  to  see  Weber  and  hear 
his  music.  As  he  himself  tells  us  in  his  autobiographic 
sketch :  — 

V  "  Nothing  gave  me  so  much  pleasure  as  the  Freischiltz  ;  I  often 
saw  Weber  pass  by  our  house  when  he  came  from  rehearsals ;  I 
always  looked  upon  him  with  a  holy  awe.  A  family  tutor,  who 
explained  Cornelius  Nepos  to  me,  also  gave  me  lessons  on  the 
piano  ;  hardly  had  I  got  beyond  the  first  five-finger  exercises  when 
I  secretly  learned,  all  by  myself,  and  at  first  without  a  score,  the 
Freischiltz  overture;  my  teacher  surprised  me  at  it  one  day  and 
said  that  I  would  never  amount  to  anything.  He  was  right :  I 
never  did  learn  to  play  the  piano." 

"At  this  period,"  he  adds,  "I  only  played  for  myself;  over- 
tures were  my  favorites,  and  I  played  them  with  the  most  atro- 
cious fingering.  I  could  not  play  a  scale  correctly,  and  I  conceived 
a  great  aversion  to  all  rapid  passages.  Of  Mozart  I  liked  only  the 
overture  to  the  Mcujic  Flute ;  Don  Juan  I  disliked  because  it  was 
composed  to  an  Italian  text,  which  seemed  to  me  so  silly."    ^ 

Another  straw  that  showed  which  way  the  wind  was 
blowing. 


16  RICHARD    WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

In  the  meantime  Geyer  also  had  died,  when  Kichard 
was  only  eight  ^  years  old. 

"Shortly  before  his  death,"  Wagner  writes,  "I  had  learned  to 
play  on  the  piano  '  Ueb'  iinmer  Treu'  und  Redlichkeit '  and  the 
' Jungf ern-Kranz '  [from  the  Fi'eischutz'\,  then  quite  new.  The 
day  before  his  death  I  had  to  play  these  two  pieces  for  him  in  the 
adjoining  room,  and  I  heard  him  say  to  my  mother,  in  a  faint 
voice,  '  Could  he  perhaps  have  talent  for  music  ? '  The  following 
morning,  after  his  death,  mother  came  into  the  room  where  her 
children  were  assembled,  and  spoke  a  few  words  to  each  of  us ; 
and  to  me  she  said :  '  Of  you  he  wanted  to  make  something.'  I 
remember,"  Wagner  adds,  "that  for  a  long  time  I  imagined  that 
I  would  become  somebody." 

The  mother,  too,  appears  to  have  been  of  that  opinion, 
for  Laube  relates  in  his  Reminiscences  that  he  used  to 
visit  her,  and  that  she  repeatedly  asked  him,  "  Do  you 
think  that  Richard  will  make  his  mark?" 

EICHARD  NOT  A   PRODIGY  —  AND   WHY 

Most  of  the  great  composers  have  manifested  their 
special  talent  at  so  early  an  age  that  they  may  be  classed 
as  musical  prodigies.  Wagner,  by  his  own  confession, 
was  not  a  prodigy ;  and  when  his  operas  began  to  make 
their  way  in  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  unprecedented 
opposition  of  critics  and  other  philistines,  his  opponents 
frequently  brought  forward  this  fact  to  prove  that  he 
could  not  be  considered  a  genius.  They  forgot  that  most 
prodigies  are  doomed  to  early  oblivion;  that  Beethoven 
found  his  first  music  lessons  as  irksome  as  Wagner  did, 
and  even  shed  tears  over  them ;  and  that  Weber,  in  his 

1  Wagner,  in  his  autobiographic  sketch,  says  seven ;  but  that  is  a 
slip  of  memory,  as  Geyer  died  on  Sept.  30,  1821. 


RICRAED  NOT  A   PRODIGY — AND    WHY        17 

eighth  year,  was  accosted  by  his  teacher  in  almost  the 
same  words  that  Wagner's  teacher  used :  "  Karl,  you  may 
become  anything  else  in  the  world,  but  a  musician  you 
will  never  be."  But  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  take  the 
argument  of  Wagner's  opponents  seriously.  Modern 
science  has  shown  that  the  higher  an  organism,  the  longer 
it  requires  to  reach  maturity,  as  we  see,  for  example,  by 
comparing  man  with  lower  animals.  The  fact  that 
Wagner's  genius  matured  slowly  might  therefore  be 
looked  on  as  a  presumption  in  his  favor,  rather  than 
otherwise. 

The  principal  reason  why  Wagner  did  not  astonish  the 
natives  by  his  feats  as  a  wonder  child  is  that  his  mental 
powers  were  not  focused  into  one  gift  or  talent,  as  is  the 
case  of  most  musicians,  but  that  he  was,  in  childhood  as 
in  manhood,  many-gifted,  like  his  stepfather.  Geyer 
evidently  felt  that  there  was  something  in  Eichard,  as 
the  deathbed  anecdote  just  related  shows;  but  he  could 
not  quite  make  up  his  mind  as  to  what  it  was.  He  first 
intended  to  make  a  painter  of  him;  "but  I  was  very 
awkward  in  drawing,"  Wagner  writes  in  his  autobio- 
graphic sketch;  and  to  Herr  Glasenapp^  he  remarked, 
in  1876 :  "  I  wanted  to  paint  big  pictures,  like  the  life- 
size  portrait  of  the  King  of  Saxony  in  my  stepfather's 
atelier;  instead  of  that,  I  was  always  made  to  draw  eyes 
only,  which  I  did  not  like."  It  is  more  than  probable, 
liowever,  that  if  Geyer  had  lived  and  Wagner  had  over- 
come his  aversion  to  technical  drudgery  and  persevered 
in  this  art,  he  would  have  distinguished  himself  in  it 
ultimately,  to  judge  by  the  wonderful  pictorial  imagina- 
tiveness shown  in  the  scenery  of  his  operas,  wliich  com- 
1  Wagner  Jahrbuch,  1886,  p.  61. 


18  RICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

pelled  even  his  fiercest  opponent,  Dr.  Hanslick,  to  remark 
that 

"It  is  especially  the  pictorial  sense  of  Wagner  that  is  at  work 
incessantly  in  the  Mbelung's  Ring;  it  appears  to  have  furnished 
the  first  impulse  for  many  of  the  scenes.  In  looking  at  the  photo- 
graphs of  Joseph  Hoffmann's  poetically  conceived  decorations,  the 
thought  involuntarily  occurs  that  such  pictures  may  have  arisen 
first  in  Wagner's  imagination  and  brought  forth  corresponding 
music." 

The  first  scene  in  Rheiiigold,  where  we  see  the  three 
Rhine  daughters  swimming  about  under  the  water,  a 
section  of  which  occupies  the  whole  stage  to  the  top,  and 
appears  to  flow  on  steadily ;  the  wild  mounted  maidens 
in  the  WalMire,  riding  among  the  clouds,  and  alighting 
on  precipitous  rocks,  filling  the  air  with  their  Aveird  song; 
the  forest  scene  in  Siegfried,  where  the  hero  lies  under  a 
large  tree  with  spreading  branches,  and  listens  to  the  song 
of  the  birds  and  the  rustling  of  the  leaves,  so  beautifully 
imitated  by  the  orchestra ;  the  final  scene  of  the  Gotter- 
ddmmerung,  where  the  river  begins  to  rise  and  inundate 
the  ruins  of  the  hall,  bearing  on  its  swelling  waves  the 
Rhine  daughters  once  more,  and  accompanied  by  the  surg- 
ing sounds  of  the  symphonic  flood;  the  magnificent  eccle- 
siastic scenes  in  Parsifal,  which  are  like  pictures  of  the 
old  Italian  masters  brought  to  life, —  these  and  other 
scenic  conceptions  bear  witness  to  Wagner's  pictorial 
genius;  for  all  of  them  are  described  in  detail  in  his 
poems,  and  still  more  minutely  in  the  orchestral  score, 
leaving  the  scene-painter  no  further  task  than  the  exe- 
cution of  his  minute  directions. 

Another  branch  of  mental  activity  in  which  Rich- 
ard Wagner  might  have  won  distinction  had  he  devoted 


BICHABD  NOT  A   PRODIGY — AND  WHY        19 

himself  to  it,  js  classical  philology.  At  the  age  of  nine 
he  was  placed  in  the  Kreuzschule  at  Dresden,  where  he 
remained  till  he  was  fourteen.  Latin  did  not  interest 
him  very  much,  but  for  Greek  literature,  history,  and 
mythology  he  had  an  ardent  enthusiasm  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  translation,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  of 
tiie  first  twelve  books  of  Homer's  Odyssey  —  a  self-im- 
posed task  which  naturally  pleased  his  instructors  very 
much.  At,  the  age  of  fifteen  the  Wagner-Geyer  family 
moved  back  to  Leipzig,  and  Richard  was  placed  in  the 
Xikolaischule,  the  teachers  in  which  appear  to  have  been 
of  inferior  calibre  to  those  in  Dresden,  since  they  did  not 
succeed  in  fanning  his  ardor  for  classical  study  as  his 
former  teachers  had  done.  Eichard  was,  moreover,  sub- 
jected to  the  indignity  of  being  placed  in  a  lower  class 
than  the  one  he  had  been  in  at  Dresden ;  and  this  hurt 
his  feelings  so  much  that  he  became  careless  and  neglected 
his  studies. 

It  is  an  odd  circumstance  that  for  the  first  fifteen  years 
of  his  life  Richard  Wagner  did  not  exist  —  officially  at 
least,  for  he  was  entered  at  the  Dresden  Kreuzschule  as 
Richard  Geyer,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  this  name  was 
changed  till  he  left  that  school,  in  1827. 

Richard's  poetic  talent  manifested  itself  at  the  early 
age  of  eleven.  "One  of  our  classmates  had  died,"  he 
writes,  "and  the  teachers  imposed  on  us  the  task  of  writ- 
ing a  poem  on  his  death;  the  best  was  to  be  printed;  it 
was  my  own,  but  only  after  I  had  pruned  it  of  its  exces- 
sive verbiage."  This  success  appears  to  have  inspired 
him  with  the  ambition  to  become  a  poet.  He  attempted 
some  dramas  after  tlie  Greek  type,  and  also  began  to 
study  English,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  being  able  to  read 
Shakespeare  in  the  original :  — 


20  RICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

"I  made  a  metric  translation  of  Romeo's  monologue,"  he  says. 
"The  study  of  English  was  also  soon  abandoned  ;  but  Shakespeare 
remained  my  model ;  I  projected  a  grand  drama,  a  sort  of  compound 
of  Hamlet  and  King  Lear  ;  the  plan  was  extremely  grandiose  :  forty- 
two  persons  died  in  course  of  the  piece,  and  in  developing  the  plot 
I  found  myself  compelled  to  make  most  of  them  reappear  as  ghosts, 
because  otherwise  there  would  have  been  no  personages  left  for 
the  last  acts." 

This  drama  occupied  him  two  years  (14-16) ;  and  he 
adds  that  at  the  time  when  he  lost  his  interest  in  classical 
philology  it  was  the  only  thing  that  he  was  devoted  to. 

A  few  years  ago  Wagner's  nephew  Ferdinand  Avena- 
rius  published  in  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  of  Munich  a 
few  new  details  regarding  this  wonderful  tragedy,  which 
he  obtained  from  his  mother  (Wagner's  youngest  sister, 
Ciicilie  Geyer).  It  seems  that  Ciicilie  was  initiated  into 
the  secret  of  the  tragedy  before  the  others,  who  were  to 
be  surprised  by  its  grandeur  on  its  completion.  Work 
on  the  tragedy  was  frequently  interrupted,  and  pros- 
pered most  when  Richard's  mother  was  ill  in  bed,  on 
which  occasions  Richard  used  to  shirk  school  and  lock 
himself  up  in  his  room,  where  he  was  heard  declaiming 
wildly. 

"One  demoniac  passage,"  writes  Avenarius,  "my  mother 
remembers  distinctly.  A  living  person  walks  up  to  a  ghost,  who 
warns  him  back  with  the  words,  '  Touch  me  not,  for  my  nose  will 
crumble  to  dust  on  contact.'  My  mother  says  that  this  passage 
did  not  produce  the  intended  effect  on  her  even  at  her  age,  and  it 
seems  that  Richard  himself  soon  began  to  doubt  the  tragic  value 
of  his  drama,  although  he  long  continued  his  work  on  it.  A  friend 
of  my  uncle  told  me  that  one  day  when  she  asked  Richard  how 
far  he  had  got  with  his  tragedy,  he  replied  :  '  Well,  I've  got  them 
all  dead  but  one  '  (Nu,  bis  auf  einen  hab'  ich  sie  alle  todt)." 


BOYHOOD  ANECDOTES  21 


BOYHOOD   ANECDOTES 


The  articles  of  Ferdinand  Avenarius  contain  several 
other  anecdotes  of  Richard's  childhood  which  invite  cita- 
tion, as  they  add  to  our  rather  scant  knowledge  of  that 
part  of  his  life.  When  Weber  passed  by  Richard's  win- 
dow, after  a  rehearsal  at  the  opera,  the  boy  would  call 
his  sister  to  the  window  and  exclaim,  "Look  here;  that 
is  the  greatest  man  in  the  world  —  Jioiv  great  he  is,  you 
cannot  understand."  And  although  Cacilie  could  not  at 
first  see  anything  "  great "  in  the  crooked-legged  little 
man,  with  his  large  spectacles  on  his  large  nose,  with  the 
gray  coat  and  the  vacillating  gait,  she  soon  followed  her 
brother's  example  of  looking  on  him  with  "  religious 
awe."  Richard  was  very  fond  of  going  to  the  theatre, 
especially  to  hear  the  Freischiitz:  and  when  permission 
to  go  was  withheld  he  found  a  way  to  have  his  will.  He 
stood  in  a  corner  and  kept  count  of  the  passing  minutes : 
"  Now  they  are  giving  this  .  .  .  now  that  .  .  .  now  that 
..."  and  so  on,  accompanying  this  recital  with  tears 
and  sobs  as  if  his  throat  were  bursting.  Finally  his 
mother  lost  patience  —  "Away  with  you,  you  sniveller," 
and  away  he  was  in  a  second.  Among  his  early  reminis- 
cences is  a  day  when  he  begged  his  mother  for  a  penny 
to  buy  music  paper  for  copying  a  piece  by  Weber. 

Never  was  little  Richard  more  delighted  tlian  when  his 
mother  took  him  out  for  a  walk;  his  love  of  nature  and 
fresh  air  showed  itself  in  his  earliest  years,  and  his  little 
hand-sled  was  one  of  his  favorite  companions.  His  first 
recorded  joke  is  connected  with  this  sleigh.  His  mother 
had  made  a  "  new  "  dress  for  one  of  his  sisters,  evidently 


22  BICHARD  WAGNERS   CHILDHOOD 

out  of  one  of  her  own  old  ones.  The  result  was  too 
shiny  to  suit  the  girl,  bvit  Richard  consoled  her  with 
the  remark :  "  Never  mind,  we  can  go  sleighing  on  that, 
without  getting  off."  One  day  Cacilie  accompanied  her 
brother  and  mother  to  the  river,  where  they  had  to  wait 
for  the  boat.  Cacilie  was  very  fond  of  going  about  with 
bare  feet,  but  on  this  occasion  she  missed  her  shoes  and 
stockings,  as  the  weather  turned  very  cold.  "Wait  a 
moment,"  exclaimed  Richard,  "I'll  give  you  one  of  my 
boots,  and  the  other  feet  we  can  keep  warm  by  putting  one 
on  the  other."  This  anecdote  was  subsequently  related 
by  Wagner  in  Paris  to  the  artist  Kietz,  who  made  a 
sketch  of  this  scene,  and  of  others  suggested  by  Wagner's 
early  reminiscences. 

The  reminiscences  of  early  life  always  remained  re- 
markably vivid  in  Wagner's  mind,  as  we  are  told  by 
Ferdinand  Praeger,  the  first  chapters  of  whose  Wagner 
as  I  Knew  Him  (1892)  are  interlarded  with  several  in- 
teresting stories  of  Wagner's  boyhood  told  by  himself 
and  previously  not  placed  on  record.  Richard  was  nine 
years  old  when  he  slej)t  away  from  his  mother's  home 
for  the  first  time.  He  was  sent  on  a  long  visit  to  his 
uncle  Geyer  at  Eisleben,  the  birthplace  of  Luther,  one  of 
the  heroes  of  Wagner's  youth.  "My  family,"  he  re- 
marked to  Praeger  in  1856,  "  had  been  among  the  staunch- 
est  of  Lutherans  for  generations.  What  attracted  me 
most  in  the  great  reformer's  character  was  his  dauntless 
energy  and  fearlessness.  Since  then  I  have  often  rumi- 
nated on  the  true  instinct  of  children,  for  I,  had  I  not 
also  to  preach  a  new  Gospel  of  Art?  Had  I  not  also  to 
bear  every  insult  in  its  defence,  and  had  I  not  too  said, 
'  Here  I  stand ;  God  help  me ;  I  cannot  be  otherwise  ' '?  " 


BOYHOOD  ANECDOTES  23 

This  first  journey  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  boy, 
"who  was  born  with  an  instinct  for  travel :  — 

"  Can  one  ever  forget  a  first  impression?  And  my  first  journey 
was  such  an  event !  Why,  I  seem  even  to  remember  the  physi- 
ognomy of  the  poor  lean  horses  that  drew  the  jolting  '  postkarre.' 
They  were  being  changed  at  some  intermediate  station,  the  name 
of  which  I  have  now  forgotten,  when  all  the  passengers  had  to 
alight.  I  stood  outside  the  inn  eating  the  '  butterbrod  '  with  which 
my  dear  little  mother  had  provided  me,  and  as  the  horses  were 
^bout  to  be  led  away  I  caressed  them  affectionately  for  having 
brought  me  so  far.  How  every  cloud  seemed  to  me  different  from 
those  of  the  Dresden  sky  !  How  I  scrutinized  every  tree  to  find 
some  new  characteristic  !  How  I  looked  around  in  all  directions 
to  discover  something  I  had  not  seen  in  my  short  life  !  How  grand 
I  felt  when  the  heavy  car  rolled  into  the  town  of  Eisleben  !  " 

The  love  of  animals,  and  sympathy  with  their  trials, 
thus  evinced  at  this  early  age,  subsequently  became  one 
of  Wagner's  most  marked  traits,  which  he  sliared  with 
most  men  of  genius.  Anotlier  trait  was  that  he  preferred 
rambling  about  the  country  to.  learning  the  rules  of 
grammar,  and  used  to  beguile  his  uncle  to  tell  him  stories 
that  he  might  escape  work.  During  his  school  days  he 
was  frail  and  small  of  stature,  which  served  him  as  an 
advantage,  for  the  teachers  wondered  at  the  unusual 
energy  and  intelligence  displayed  by  one  of  his  pigmy 
frame.  With  liis  schoolmates  his  violent  temper  brought 
him  into  frequent  collisions",  which,  however,  rarely 
degenerated  into  blows.  He  was  fond  of  practical  jokes, 
and  his  superabundant  animal  spirits  gave  rise  to  various 
escapades.  He  used  to  frighten  his  mother  by  jumping 
down  stairs  and  sliding  down  the  banisters,  but  as  he 
always  turned  up  fresh  and  smiling,  he  was  allowed  to 
have  his  way,  and  was  even  asked  to  entertain  visitors 


24  BICHAEB  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

with  his  pranks.  The  following  anecdote,  related  by 
Praeger,  shows  how  on  one  occasion  he  barely  escaped 
with  his  life.  A  holiday  had  been  unexpectedly  an- 
nounced at  the  Kreuzschule,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
boys : — 

"  Caps  were  thrown  in  the  air,  when  Wagner,  seizing  that  of 
one  of  his  companions,  threw  it  with  an  unusual  effort  on  to  the 
roof  of  the  school-house,  a  feat  loudly  applauded  by  the  rest  of  the 
scholars.  But  there  was  one  dissentient,  —  the  unlucky  boy  whose 
cap  had  been  thus  ruthlessly  snatched.  He  burst  into  tears. 
Wagner  could  never  bear  to  see  any  one  ciy,  and  with  that  prompt 
decision  so  characteristic  of  him  at  all  periods  of  his  life,  decided 
at  once  to  mount  the  roof  for  the  cap.  He  re-entered  the  school- 
house,  rushed  up  the  stairs  to  the  cock-loft,  climbed  out  on  the 
roof  through  a  ventilator,  and  gazed  down  on  the  applauding  boys. 
He  then  set  himself  to  crawl  along  the  steep  incline  towards  the 
cap.  The  boys  ceased  cheering  at  the  sight,  and  drew  back  in  fear 
and  terror.  Some  hurriedly  ran  to  the  '  custodes.'  A  ladder  was 
brought  and  carried  up  stairs  to  the  loft,  the  boys  eagerly  crowding 
behind.  Meanwhile  Wagner  had  secured  the  cap,  safely  returned 
to  the  opening,  and  slid  back  into  the  dark  loft  just  in  time  to  hear 
excited  talking  on  the  stairs.  He  hid  himself  in  a  corner  behind 
some  boxes,  waiting  for  the  placing  of  the  ladder,  and  '  custodes ' 
ascending  it,  when  he  came  from  his  hiding-place,  and  in  an  inno- 
cent tone  inquired  what  they  were  looking  for,  —  a  bird,  perhaps? 
'  Yes,  a  gallows  bird,'  was  the  angry  answer  of  the  infuriated  '  cus- 
todes,' who,  after  all,  were  glad  to  see  the  boy  safe,  their  general 
favorite." 

We  must  now  return  to  our  narrative,  interrupted  at 
the  moment  when  the  young  poet  had  killed  off  all  but 
one  of  the  forty  characters  in  his  drama. 

RICHAKD   TURNS   TO   MUSIC 
A  very  important  result  followed  the  writing  of  this 
sanguinary  and  ghostly  drama.     While  he  was  at  work 


RICHARD   TURNS   TO  MUSIC  25 

on  it,  Richard  for  the  first  time  became  acquainted  with 
the  music  of  Beethoven,  at  a  Gewandhaus  concert  in 
Leipzig.  It  made  a  deep  impression  on  him,  especially 
the  music  to  Goethe's  Egmont,  which  filled  him  with  such 
great  enthusiasm  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  embellish 
his  own  drama  with  music  of  the  same  style.  It  did  not 
enter  the  head  of  this  ambitious  youth  of  sixteen  that 
there  would  be  any  special  difficulty  in  carrying  out  such 
a  project.  To  familiarize  himself  with  the  laws  of  har- 
mony and  counterpoint  he  borrowed  Logier's  treatise  for 
a  iceek  and  studied  it  diligently :  "  but  this  study  did  not 
bear  fruit  as  fast  as  I  had  fancied;  its  difficulties  stimu- 
lated and  attracted  me;  1  resolved  to  become  a  musician." 
Thus,  although  he  had  had  piano  lessons  previously, 
and  had  been  deeply  impressed  by  Weber's  music  in  his 
childhood,  it  was  not  till  his  sixteenth  year  that  Wagner 
discovered  his  true  vocation.  Moreover,  he  was  at  first 
obliged  to  keep  his  new  resolution  to  himself,  for  his 
family  had  by  this  time  discovered  that  he  had  been 
neglecting  his  studies  and  giving  most  of  his  time  to  his 
tragedy.  To  confess  the  existence  of  his  new  hobby 
would  have  poured  oil  on  the  discontent  provoked  by  this 
discovery ;  and  Eichard  therefore  composed,  in  the  strict- 
est secrecy,  a  sonata,  a  quartet,  and  an  aria.  When  he 
had  made  a  little  more  progress  in  his  new  art,  he  had 
the  courage  to  tell  his  family  about  it;  but  they  only 
looked  on  it  as  a  fresh  caprice,  all  the  more  so  as  it  had 
not  been  preceded  by  careful  study  or  justified  by  the 
acquisition  of  skill  in  performing  on  some  musical  instru- 
ment. However,  the  family  humored  his  whim  in  so  far 
as  to  engage  a  music-teacher,  to  see  whether  it  had  any 
substantial  foundation.     The  experiment  proved  unsuc- 


26  RICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

cessful.  Just  as,  in  his  childhood,  he  had  preferred 
playing  overtures  to  five-finger  exercises,  so  now,  in  his 
youth,  he  disgusted  his  teacher  by  neglecting  his  elemen- 
tary studies  in  counterpoint  and  composing  overtures  for 
grand  orchestra. 

Obviously  there  was  a  certain  American  trait  in  the 
make-up  of  young  Eichard  Wagner's  character:  Inothing 
but  the  biggest  of  its  kind  would  satisfy  him.  We  have 
seen  how,  at  the  age  of  five,  instead  of  learning  to  draw 
eyes,  he  wanted  to  begin  by  painting  life-size  portraits 
of  kings;  how,  at  thirteen,  he  took  upon  himself,  vol- 
untarily, the  Herculean  task  of  translating  Homer's 
Odyssey,  and  accomplished  half  of  it;  how,  at  four- 
teen, he  began  a  tragedy  which  was  to  combine  the  grand- 
eur of  two  of  Shakespeare's  dramas.  And  now,  at  sixteen, 
we  find  him  again,  trying  his  new-fledged  musical  wings 
by  soaring  at  once  to  the  highest  peaks  of  orchestral 
achievement,  without  wasting  any  time  on  the  humble 
foothills.  Nor  was  it  enough  to  write  overtures :  others 
had  done  that;  consequently  Richard's  must  be  a  "new 
departure."  As  he  himself  remarks :  "  Beethoven's  ninth 
symphony  appeared  like  a  simple  Pleyel  sonata  by  the 
side  of  this  marvellously  complicated  overture  "  —  refer- 
ring to  one  of  his  compositions  which  was  played  during 
an  entr'acte  at  the  Leipzig  theatre.  To  facilitate  the 
reading  of  this  astounding  score  he  had  conceived  the 
novel  idea  of  writing  it  in  three  kinds  of  ink,  red  for 
the  strings,  green  for  the  wood-wind,  and  black  for  the 
brass  instruments.  "This  overture  was  the  climax  of 
my  absurdities,"  Wagner  writes,  and  he  goes  on  to  tell 
how,  at  its  performance,  the  public  was  at  first  astonished 
at  the  perseverance  of  the  drum -player,  who  had  to  tap 


RICHARD   TURNS   TO  MUSIC  27 

his  instrument  fortissimo  every  fourth  bar,  throughout 
the  piece;  how  this  astonishment  gradually  changed  to 
open  disgust,  and  ended  in  an  explosion  of  general 
hilarity,  to  the  young  composer's  great  discomfiture. 

Nevertheless,  Wagner  adds  that  this  first  performance 
of  a  piece  of  his  own  made  a  deep  impression  on  him ; 
and  Heinrich  Dorn,  who  conducted  this  overture  (and 
who  subsequently  assisted  Wagner  in  getting  a  position 
at  Riga),  related  in  his  Ergebnisse  aus  Erlebnissen  that 
"young  Richard,  at  that  time  a  very  modest  youth, 
thanked  me  on  the  following  day,  visibly  surprised,  for 
having  done  him  this  service.  I  could  only  assure  him 
that  I  had  easily  divined  his  talent,  and  that  I  had  been 
especially  pleased  on  finding  that  I  had  to  make  no  cor- 
rections at  all  in  the  orchestration  (as  is  very  apt  to  be 
necessary  in  the  case  of  beginners),  and  that  I  expected 
the  best  of  his  future."  Dorn  also  says  that  at  the 
rehearsal  the  musicians  were  convulsed  with  laughter  at 
this  extraordinary  piece. 

This  fiasco  taught  Wagner  a  useful  lesson,  and  brought 
him  back  to  his  senses.  He  matriculated  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Leipzig,  less  with  the  intention  of  devoting  him- 
self to  a  profession  than  from  a  desire  to  attend  lectures 
on  aesthetics  and  philosophy.  The  dissipations  peculiar  to 
German  student  life  attracted  him  for  a  while,  and  made 
him  neglect  all  his  favorite  studies,  including  music,  to 
the  distress  of  his  relatives,  who  began  to  feel  pretty 
certain  that  he  was  a  good-for-nothing,  and  would  never 
amount  to  anything.  The  reaction  came  soon.  The 
unfettered  freedom  and  gross  indulgences  of  student  life 
filled  him  with  disgust,  and  at  last  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  devote  himself  to  a  careful  and  systematic  study  of 


28  EICHARD  WAGNERS  CHILDHOOD 

music.  Previous  attempts  with  a  pedantic  teacher  named 
Gottlieb  Miiller  had  led  to  no  useful  results;  but  tliis 
time,  as  good  luck  would  have  it,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
one  of  Bach's  successors  as  Cantor  at  the  Thomasschule, 
—  Theodor  Weinlig, —  who  possessed  the  rare  gift  of 
making  the  study  of  counterpoint  as  attractive  as  play. 
Before  the  end  of  six  months,  Weinlig  himself  brought 
these  lessons  to  a  close,  having  found  that  Wagner  could 
solve  the  most  difficult  problems  in  counterpoint;  and  he 
told  his  pupil  in  conclusion :  "  Probably  you  will  never 
be  called  upon  to  write  a  fugue ;  but  the  fact  that  you  can 
write  one  will  give  you  technical  independence,  and  make 
everything  else  easy." 

CONCEKT  PIECES 

About  this  time  Wagner  learned  to  admire  Mozart,  and 
he  composed  a  sonata  in  which  he  took  great  pains  to  be 
natural  and  simple.  This  sonata  was  published  by 
Breitkopf  und  Hartel,  and  although  it  does  not  show 
any  traces  of  Wagner's  peculiar  style,  it  is  notable  as 
being  the  first  piece  of  his  that  ever  got  into  print. -^ 
To  reward  the  young  composer  for  the  fetters  placed  on 
him  in  these  pieces  Weinlig  permitted  him  to  compose 
something  to  suit  his  own  taste.  The  result  was  a  fan- 
tasia in  F  sharp  minor  for  piano,  which  has  never  been 
printed,  but  which  is,  according  to  W.  Tappert,^  much 
more  interesting  and  individual  than  the  sonata  and  the 


'^t> 


1  The  best  movement,  the  menuet,  is  obtainable  to-day  as  No.  84  of 
the  Perles  Musicales.  A  facsimile  of  the  original  title-page  is  printed 
in  the  Wagner  Jahrbuch,  1886,  p.  366.  No.  24  of  the  Perles  Musicales 
is  a  polonaise  of  Wagner's,  composed,  like  this  sonata,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen. 

2  Richard  Wagner :  Sein  Leben  u.  Seine  Werke,  1883,  p.  5. 


CONCERT  PIECES  29 

polonaise.  Other  pieces  of  this  period  are  a  concert 
overture  in  D-minor,  an  overture  to  Raupach's  Koniy 
Enzio,  and  a  concert  overture  with  fugue,  in  C-major, 
none  of  which  have  been  printed.  Of  the  last  named 
Wagner  says  that  "  it  was  composed  after  the  model  of 
Beethoven,  whom  I  now  understood  somewhat  better, 
and  was  produced  at  a  Gewandhaus  concert,  Avith  encour- 
aging success."  The  AUgemeine  Musikalische  Zeitung 
(1832,  p.  296)  says  of  the  same  piece :  — 

' '  Much  pleasure  was  given  us  by  a  new  overture  by  a  still  very 
young  composer,  Herr  Richard  Wagner.  The  piece  was  thoroughly 
appreciated,  and,  indeed,  the  young  man  promises  much  :  the  com- 
position not  only  sounds  well,  but  it  has  ideas  and  is  written  with 
care  and  skill,  with  an  evident  and  successful  striving  for  the 
noblest.     We  saw  the  score." 

A  performance  of  Beethoven's  Pastoral  Symphony  also 
led  Wagner  to  Avrite  a  pastoral  play  dramatically  sug- 
gested by  Goethe's  Laune  der  Verli'ebten. 

Of  more  importance  than  these  shorter  compositions 
was  a  symphony  in  C-minor,  which  had  a  most  interest- 
ing history.  After  completing  it  Wagner  placed  it  in 
his  trunk  and  made  a  trip  to  Vienna,  "for  no  other  pur- 
pose," as  he  relates,  '''than  to  get  a  glimpse  of  this  famed 
musical  centre.  What  I  heard  and  saw  there  was  not  to 
my  edification;  wherever  I  went  I  heard  Zampa  or 
Strauss's  potpourris  on  Zampa  —  two  things  that  were 
an  abomination  to  me  especially  at  that  time.  On  my 
return  I  remained  some  time  in  Prague,  where  I  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Dionys  Weber  and  Tomaschek;  the 
former  had  some  of  my  compositions  played  at  the  Con- 
servatory, among  them  my  sympliony." 

So  much  Wagner  relates  in  his  Autobiographic  Sketch 


30  RICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

(1843).  In  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Musikalisches 
Wochenblatt,^  written  at  Venice  forty  years  later  and  six 
weeks  before  his  death,  he  gives  further  details.  Hav- 
ing returned  to  Leipzig,  he  naturally  desired  to  have  the 
symphony  played  at  the  Gewandhaus.  Hofrath  Rochlitz, 
who  was  at  that  time  the  presiding  chief,  carefully  ex- 
amined the  score,  and  Avhen  Wagner  called  on  him  per- 
sonally, he  put  on  his  spectacles  and  exclaimed :  "  What 
do  1  see?  Why,  you  are  a  very  young  man  indeed;  I  had 
expected  to  see  a  much  older  and  more  experienced  com- 
poser." This  was  encouraging,  and  not  long  thereafter 
the  symphony  was  played  at  the  Gewandhaus,  and 
favorably  received,  all  the  movements,  too,  with  the 
exception  of  the  second,  being  loudly  applauded  by  a 
large  audience. 

A  few  years  later  Mendelssohn  became  director  of  the 
Gewandhaus  concerts. 

"  Astonished  at  the  excellent  achievements  of  this  still  so  young 
master,"  Wagner  writes,  "  I  sought  his  acquaintance,  during  a 
later  sojourn  in  Leipzig  (1834  or  '35),  and  on  this  occasion  yielded 
to  a  strangely  inward  (innerliche)  necessity  by  giving  him  —  or 
rather  forcing  on  him  —  the  manuscript  of  my  symphony  with  the 
request  not  at  all  to  examine  it,  but  only  to  take  it  under  his  care. 
Probably  I  fancied  that  perhaps  he  would  take  a  look  at  it  after  all 
and  say  something  to  me  about  it.  But  this  never  happened.  In 
the  course  of  years,  my  paths  often  brought  me  near  Mendelssohn 
again  ;  we  met,  we  dined,  we  even  played  together  once  in  Leipzig  ; 
he  attended  the  first  performance  of  my  Flying  Dutchman  in 
Berlin,  and  found  that,  inasmuch  as  the  opera  had  after  all  not 
proved  quite  a  failure,  I  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  my  success  ;  on 
the  occasion  of  a  performance  of  Tannhduser  in  Dresden  he  also 
remarked  that  a  canon  in  the  adagio  of  the  second  finale  had  pleased 

1  Reprinted  in  Vol.  X.  of  the  Gesammelte  Schri/ten,  pp.  400-406. 


WORSHIP   OF  BEETHOVEN  31 

him.  Only  of  my  symphony,  and  the  manuscript  of  it,  he  never 
said  a  word,  which  was  reason  enough  why  I  never  inquired  after 
it." 

For  almost  half  a  century  nothing  was  known  of  this 
manuscript,  and  Wagner  had  given  it  up  as  lost,  when  it 
was  discovered  in  an  old  trunk  in  Dresden.  The  circum- 
stances of  this  discovery,  and  of  the  performance  of  the 
symphony  in  Venice,  a  few  weeks  before  Wagner's  death, 
may,  however,  be  more  fitly  and  dramatically  related  in 
a  later  chapter.^  Here  we  need  only  add  that,  according 
to  Wagner's  own  testimony,  clearness  and  virility  were 
his  aim  in  writing  this  work,  and  that,  besides  Beethoven, 
Mozart  was  his  prototype.  In  regard  to  length,  the 
symphony  suggests  the  former  rather  than  the  latter  of 
these  composers,  for  it  has  been  noted  that  it  contains 
1836  bars,  while  Mozart's  longest  symphony  has  only 
half  that  number.  Beethoven's  influence  is  also  shown 
in  the  structure  and  in  not  a  few  "  allusions  "  of  the  sym- 
phony; for  Beethoven  was  at  that  time,  as  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  his  special  idol. 

WORSHIP  OF   BEETHOVEN 

It  was  the  announcement  of  the  great  symphonist's 
death  that  had  first  drawn  Wagner's  attention  to  his 
music.  The  Egmont  music  inspired  him,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  with  the  plan  to  set  his  own  great  ghost  trag- 
edy to  music;  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  composer, 
Heinrich  Dorn  (who  at  that  time  was  a  friend  of  Wag- 
ner's, but  subsequently  became  a  bitter  enemy  and  rival), 

"  there  was  perhaps  never  at  any  time  a  young  composer  who  was 
more  familiar  with  Beethoven's  works  than  the  eighteen-year-old 
Wagner  of  that  time.     He  possessed  most  of  the  master's  over- 

1  See  Index,  under  "  Symphony  I." 


32  BICHARD  WAGNER'S   CHILDHOOD 

tures  in  scores  copied  by  his  own  hand  ;  with  the  sonatas  he  went 
to  sleep,  with  the  quartets  he  got  up  ;  the  songs  he  sang,  the  (juar- 
tets  he  whistled  (for  in  his  playing  there  was  no  progress)  ;  in 
short,  it  was  a  true  furor  teutonicus,  which,  in  its  union  with  an 
intellect  of  scientific  cultivation  and  unusual  activity,  promised  to 
yield  vigorous  shoots." 

This  was  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  many  years  later 
Wagner  proved  his  unaltered  affection  for  Beethoven  by 
writing  his  well-known  analytical  programmes  of  some 
of  his  idol's  symphonies  or  overtures ;  the  special  twenty- 
seven-page  article  on  the  performance  of  the  ninth  sym- 
phony; and  that  monument  of  artistic  enthusiasm,  the 
essay  on  Beethoven,  which  takes  up  seventy-four  pages 
of  the  ninth  volume  of  his  collected  works,  and  was  writ- 
ten at  the  age  of  tifty-seven ;  not  to  speak  of  the  countless 
references  to  Beethoven  and  his  works  scattered  through 
his  various  essays.^  In  Paris,  about  the  time  when  Rienzi 
was  completed,  he  conceived  the  plan  of  writing  a  Bee- 
thoven biography,  and  it  was  one  of  Heine's  jokes  that 
Wagner  always  had  the  words  ami  de  BeetJioven  printed 
on  his  visiting-cards. 

Two  of  the  earliest  extant  letters  of  Wagner's  should 
be  alluded  to  in  connection  with  this  topic.  The  first, 
dated  Oct.  6  (1830),  is  addressed  to  the  well-known  music 
publishers,  B.  Schott's  Sohne  in  Mayence,  and  contains 
an  offer  to  arrange  Beethoven's  Ninth  Symphony  for 
two  hands. 

'« For  a  long  time,"  he  writes,  "  I  have  made  Beethoven's  mag- 
nificent last  symphony  the  object  of  my  profoundest  study,  and 

1  These,  like  Wagner's  allusions  to  all  other  composers,  and  to  his 
own  works,  will  be  found  conveniently  grouped  together  in  the  two 
volumes  of  Glasenapp's  Wagner  Encyclopddie  (Leipzig,  E.  W.  Fritzsch, 

1391). 


WORSHIP   OF  BEETHOVEN  33 

the  more  I  came  to  realize  the  great  vahie  of  this  work,  the  more 
it  grieved  me  to  know  that  it  is  still  so  imperfectly  understood,  or 
nltogether  ignored,  by  the  greater  part  of  the  musical  public.  To 
make  this  work  more  familiar,  the  best  method  seemed  to  me  a 
serviceable  arrangement  for  the  piano,  such  as,  to  my  great  regret, 
I  have  never  succeeded  in  finding  —  for  that  four-hand  arrangement 
of  Czerny's  surely  can  no  longer  be  considered  sufficient.  My  great 
enthusiasm  has  thus  led  me  to  make  an  attempt  to  arrange  this 
symphony  for  two  ha)ids,  and  I  have  so  far  succeeded  in  arranging 
the  first  and  perhaps  most  diiiicult  movement  in  the  most  accurate 
and  complete  manner  possible.  I  therefore  venture  to  approach 
your  respected  firm  with  the  question  whether  you  would  be  in- 
clined to  publish  such  an  arrangement  (for  of  course  I  should  not 
like  to  continue  this  difficult  work,  at  present,  without  this  cer- 
tainty). As  soon  as  I  am  assured  of  this,  I  shall  at  once  go  to 
work  and  complete  what  I  have  begiin.  Therefore  I  humbly  beg 
for  a  speedy  answer,  and  as  far  as  I  am  concerned  you  may  be 
assured  of  the  greatest  zeal. 

"  Your  Honors' 
"  My  Address :  Humble  Servant, 

Leipzig,  im  Pichhof  vor'm  Richakd  Wagner. ■» 

Halli'schen  Thor  1  Treppe." 

This  offer  was  evidently  not  accepted.  Beetlioven's 
last  symphony  was  not  appreciated  then  as  it  now  is 
(largely  owing  to  Wagner's  efforts  and  influence),  nor  of 
course  was  Wagner's  name  of  any  commercial  value  at 
that  time.^ 

Apparently  humbled  by  his  failure,  the  eighteen-year- 
old  musician  wrote  another  letter  on  Aug.  6,   1831,  to 

1  War/ner  Jahrbuch,  1886,  p.  470. 

2  What  fabulous  sums  publishers  would  pay  to-day  for  the  manu- 
script of  Beethoven's  sympliony  arraiif^ed  by  Warner  may  he  inferred 
from  the  fact  tliat  a  concert  manager  in  Berlin  a  few  years  ago  paid 
Wagner's  heirs  .W.CXK)  marks  for  tlie  privilege  of  owning, /or  one  year 
only,  the  exclusive  right  of  permitting  performances  of  Wagner's  newly 
discovered  symphony  in  C  ! 


34  BICHAlil)  WAGNERS   CHILDHOOD 

the  Bureau  de  Musique  in  Leipzig,  in  which  he  offered 
to  make  arrangements  for  the  piano  at  lens  than  the  usual 
rates,  after  convincing  the  Bureau  of  his  fitness  by  some 
trial  tasks  for  which  he  woukl  ask  no  compensation :  "  I 
am  prompted  to  this  request  by  a  lack  of  occupation,  and 
the  wish  to  find  employment  in  work  of  this  sort." 

A   SECOND   SYMPHONY 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  Wagner  wrote  but  one 
symphony;  but  in  1886  W.  Tappert,  one  of  his  most 
intimate  friends,  who  had  been  given  free  access  to  all 
his  papers  and  music  manuscripts,  discovered  a  sketch 
of  a  second  symphony  which  was  made  in  August,  1834. 
The  allegro  is  complete ;  of  the  adagio  there  are  twenty- 
nine  bars,  ending  abruptly.  Wagner  himself  never  men- 
tioned this  symphony,  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten  it 
entirely.  In  this  second  symphony  Herr  Tappert  dis- 
covered traces  of  Weber's  influence,  besides  Beethoven's; 
and  he  adds  significantly :  — 

"  We  did  not  even  need  the  wondrously  polyphonic  stage-festi- 
val-play Parsifal  to  justify  the  assertion  that  Wagner  was  the 
greatest  contrapuntist  of  his  time.  Only  half  a  year  his  lessons 
with  Cantor  Weinlig  continued  ;  what  astounding  results  they  had 
is  proved  also  by  the  unfinished  sketch  of  the  E-major  symphony. 
Ask  in  our  conservatories  whether  the  young  men  there,  after  sev- 
eral years'  study,  can  accomplish  in  free  composition  what  Richard 
Wagner  accomplished  at  the  age  of  eighteen  to  twenty-one.  And 
this  chosen  one  was  stigmatized  by  the  academic  critics  and  the 
ignorant  laity  at  their  beer-tables  as  an  amateur!  "  '■ 

^  Tappert's  article  on  the  E-major  symphony,  with  musical  illustra- 
t:ons,  will  be  found  in  the  Musikalisches  Wocfienblatt  for  Sept.  30  and 
Oct.  7,  1886, 


THE   FIRST  OPERAS 

I  HAVE  dwelt  somewhat  longer  on  what  may  be  called 
cl:e  concert  period  of  Wagner's  life  than  other  biog- 
raphers, because  the  facts  thus  brought  together  show 
that,  as  he  had  already  mastered  the  technique  of  sym-  \/ 
phonic  composition  before  his  twentieth  year,  he  might 
have  lived  to  equal  or  surpass  his  greatest  predecessors 
in  this  field  had  not  fate  and  his  theatrical  instincts 
fortunately  urged  him  into  what  he  felt  to  be  the  higher 
domain  of  the  music-drama.  That  was  his  true  sphere; 
he  needed  a  poetic  or  pictorial  idea  to  evoke  a  deeply 
original  motive  from  his  creative  imagination ;  and  it  is 
for  this  reason  that  none  of  his  concert  compositions  — 
neither  these  early  ones  nor  those  of  a  later  period  — 
quite  equal  the  best  parts  of  his  music  dramas,  with  the 
exception  of  the  "Siegfried  Idyl,"  in  which,  however, 
the  chief  themes  are  borrowed  from  the  Siegfried  drama. 
In  turning,  therefore,  to  the  operatic  period  of  his  life, 
we  reach  at  last  the  real  Richard  Wagner. 

THE   WEDDING 

In  speaking  of  his  visit  (in  1832)  to  Prague,  where  his 
symphony  in  C  had  its  first  performance,  Wagner  adds :  — 

"  I  also  wrote  there  a  tragic  opera-text,  The  Wedding.  I  do  not 
remember  where  I  found  the  mediseval  subject.  An  insane  lover 
climbs  through  the  window  into  the  bedroom  of  lii.^  friend's  be- 

Wo 


36  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

trnthed,  who  is  awaiting  her  bridegroom  ;  the  bride  struggles  fvith 
the  madman  and  throws  him  down  into  the  courtyard,  where  he 
gives  up  the  ghost.  At  tlie  fu'  ^ral  rites  the  bride  utters  a  cry  and 
falls  dead  on  the  corpse.  Ha/'ug  returned  to  Leipzig,  I  immedi- 
ately composed  the  first  number  of  this  opera,  which  contained  a 
grand  sextet  ^  that  gave  Weinlig  much  satisfaction.  My  sister  did 
not  like  the  libretto,  and  I  destroyed  it  entirely." 

The  principal  interest  attaching  to  this  performance 
lies  in  the  evidence  it  affords  that  Wagner,  from  the  very 
beginning  of  his  operatic  career,  was  led  by  his  poetic 
instinct  to  write  his  own  dramatic  texts.  His  literary 
friend,  Lanbe,  had,  abont  this  period,  offered  him  a 
libretto  entitled  Kosziusko ;  but  Wagner  refused  it,  on 
the  grounds  that  he  was  at  that  time  solely  engaged 
with  purely  instrumental  music.  The  secret  reason, 
probably,  was  that  he  felt  just  as  anxious  to  exercise  his 
poetic  as  his  musical  faculties;  and  that,  even  at  that 
early  period,  he  had  a  vague  presentiment  that  dramatic 
music,  to  be  perfect,  must  not  be  a  mere  lining,  so  to 
speak,  to  the  poetic  costume,  but  both  the  poem  and  the 
music  must  be  conceived  at  the  same  time,  and  subtly 
interwoven  —  that,  in  short,  the  poem  must  be  "dyed  in 
the  wool "  with  the  musical  colors.  This  may  be  a  homely 
simile;  but  if  the  reader  will  reflect  on  it  for  a  few  min- 
utes, it  will  perhaps  make  Wagner's  theory  of  the  music- 
drama  clearer  to  him  than  pages  of  abstract  aesthetic 
disquisition.^ 

1  When  Wagner  wrote  "sextet"  his  memory  betrayed  him.  The 
manuscript  shows  this  piece  to  be  a  septet.  Besides  this  septet  the  in- 
troduction and  a  chorus  are  still  existent  in  manuscript.  In  1879  the 
owner  of  the  manuscript  of  the  septet  offered  it  for  sale.  Wagner 
brought  suit  to  prevent  this  sale,  but  the  courts  twice  decided  against 
him.  —  (Tappert,  in  Musikalisches  Wochenblatt,  Aug.  30,  1887). 

2  Throughout  his  whole  career  Wagner  remained  faithful  to  his 
principle  of  writing  his  own  dramatic  poems,  although,  especially  in 


THE  FAIRIES  37 


THE   FAIEIES 


Of  Wagner's  earliest  operas  the  first  three  had  a  curi- 
ous fate.  Of  The  Wedding,  as  we  have  just  seen,  three 
numbers  only  were  set  to  music,  whereupon  the  libretto 
was  destroyed  by  the  composer  himself.  The  Fairies, 
the  second  of  his  operas,  though  completed,  was  never 
performed  during  his  lifetime.  The  third  opera.  The 
Novice  of  Palermo,  was  given  once,  under  Wagner's  own 
direction,  under  extraordinary  circumstances  presently  to 
be  related,  and  never  again  repeated. 

The  Fairies  was  composed  at  Wiirzburg,  whither 
Wagner  had  gone  at  the  age  of  twenty  to  visit  his  elder 
brother  Albert,  who  was  engaged  in  the  theatre  there 
as  singer,  actor,  and  stage-manager,  and  who,  Richard 
hoped,  would  be  able  to  give  him  useful  advice,  and  per- 
haps help  him  to  find  employment.  The  best  that  Albert 
could  do  for  him,  however,  was  to  get  him  appointed 
chorus  master,  at  a  salary  of  ten  florins  a  month.  In 
return  for  this  favor,  Richard  composed  for  Albert  an 

the  last  two  decades  of  his  life,  when  his  operas  began  to  be  by  far  the 
best  paying  works  given  at  the  German  opera  houses,  any  literary  man 
who  was  also  "  in  the  libretto  business  "  would  have  been  only  too 
glad  to  ally  hinis(!lf  with  such  a  successful  con)poser.  In  1882  Wagner 
wrote  to  a  young  author  in  Vienna,  declining  an  opera  libretto  which 
the  latter  had  forwarded  him:  "Why?  Because  I  have,  indeed,  read 
your  libretto;  I  have,  indeed,  tested  it;  and  I  have,  indeed,  found  it 
good  —  but  not  so  good  that,  for  its  sake,  1  should  suddenly  prove  false 
to  a  principle  to  which  I  have  been  true  for  nearly  a  wliole  generation  ; 
the  principle,  namely,  of  writing  my  own  dramatic  texts.  At  any  rate, 
I  save  money  by  this  —  for  you  must  know  I  am  a  great  miser  !  If  you 
come  to  Venice  you  will  be  able  to  convince  yourself  that  your  some- 
what voluminous  manuscript  is  in  good  company  —  it  has,  in  my  library 
of  librettos  sent  to  me,  the  number  of  2985.  A  respectable  figure,  is  it 
not,  my  young  friend  ?  " 


l«l^4 


38  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

aria  of  142  bars,  to  replace  a  shorter  one  of  fifty-eight 
bars  in  Marschner's  Vampire.^ 
In  his  autobiographic  sketch,  Wagner  relates :  — 

"In  this  year  [1833]  I  composed  a  three-act  romantic  opera, 
77te  Fairies,  for  wliich  I  liad  arranged  the  text  myself  from  Gozzi's 
.^  The  Serpent- Woman.  Beetlioven  and  Weber  were  my  prototypes: 
in  the  ensembles  many  things  were  successful ;  the  finale  of  the 
second  act  in  particular  promised  to  be  very  effective.  Extracts 
from  this  opera  given  at  concerts  in  Wurzburg  were  received 
favorably." 

Early  in  1834  he  took  his  score  under  his  arm,  went 
back  to  Leipzig,  and  offered  it  to  the  director  of  the 
'''  theatre.  At  that  time,  however,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
Italian  and  French  operas  had  a  monopoly  of  the  German 
theatres,  and  native  composers  had  to  beg  for  perform- 
ances of  their  works  as  a  special  favor.  A  foreign  opera 
of  the  same  calibre  as  The  Fairies  might  have  found 
favor  with  the  director,  but  for  a  product  of  native  talent 
there  was  no  demand,  and  so  the  fairy  opera  was  put 
aside,  and  nothing  more  was  done  for  it  during  its  author's 
lifetime. 

In  his  Eine  Mittheilung  an  meiy\e  Freunde  (written  in 
1857  and  reprinted  in  Vol.  IV.  of  the  Collected  Works, 
p.  313),  Wagner  gives  some  further  interesting  details 
regarding  The  Fairies :  — 

"  It  was  written  in  imitation  of  the  '  romantic '  opera  of  Weber 
and  also  of  Marschner,  whose  works  were  at  that  time  just  coming 
into  notice  at  Leipzig.  .  .  .  What  attracted  me  to  Gozzi's  fairy- 
tale was  not  only  its  adaptability  for  operatic  purposes,  but  the 

1  The  manuscript  of  this  aria  is  in  possession  of  W.  Tappert  of  Berlin. 
A  phototype  facsimile  is  appended  to  his  R.  Wagner:  Sein  Leben  und 
Seine  Werke,  and  is  of  interest  to  those  who  wish  to  compare  Wagner's 
earliest  musical  handwriting  with  that  of  his  later  periods. 


THE  FAIRIES  39 

subject  itself  interested  me.  A  fairy  who  renounces  immortality 
for  the  possession  of  a  beloved  mortal  can  win  the  gift  of  mortality 
only  through  certain  severe  conditions,  the  non-fulfilment  of  which 
on  the  part  of  her  lover  threatens  her  with  dire  calamity  ;  the  lover 
succumbs  to  the  trial,  which  consists  in  his  being  called  upon  not 
to  repel  the  fairy  in  whatever  (compulsory)  cruel  form  she  may 
appear  to  him.  In  Gozzi's  tale  the  fairy  is  hereupon  changed  to  a 
snake ;  the  repentant  lover  restores  her  to  her  proper  form  by 
kissing  the  snake  :  thus  winning  her  as  his  wife.  I  altered  this 
plot  by  having  the  fairy  changed  to  a  stone,  from  which  she  is 
brought  back  to  life  by  the  lover's  passionate  song,  whereupon 
instead  of  the  fairy  being  dismissed  with  him  to  the  land  of  mor- 
tals, both  are  welcomed  by  the  Fairy  King  into  the  happy  world  of 
the  immortals." 

The  Fairies  was  finished  on  Dec.  7,  1833,  and  had  its 
first  performance  on  June  29,  1888,  at  Munich  —  fifty- 
five  years  after  its  completion,  five  years  after  Wagner's 
death !  The  truth  is  that  Wagner  was  not  proud  of  this 
opera  in  later  years,  and  intended  that  it  should  never 
be  performed.  But  when  his  last  music-drama,  Parsifal, 
was  being  prepared  for  performance  at  Bayreuth,  the 
necessity  of  raising  funds  induced  liim,  in  return  for  the 
pecuniary  and  artistic  support  he  received  from  the  King 
of  Bavaria,  to  grant  the  Munich  Court  Theatre  the  right 
of  performing  Parsifal,  although  this  ran  counter  to  his 
pet  idea  of  reserving  Parsifal  exclusively  for  the  festivals 
at  Bayreuth.  He  found  it  possible,  however,  to  make  an 
arrangement  with  the  Munich  authorities  by  which  tliey 
waived  their  right  to  deprive  Bayreuth  of  its  Parsifal 
monopoly,  in  return  for  the  permission  to  produce  The 
Fairies  at   Munich   exclusively.^     The   director   of   the 

1  King  Liulwig,  liowever,  reserved  the  right  to  have  Parsifal  pro- 
duf-ed  in  Munich  at  thoso  not  infrequent  ijerl'ornianees  wliieh,  at  liis 
conunand,  were  given  witli  himself  as  sole  spectator.     For  this  purpose 


40  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

Royal  Opera,  seeing  that  The  Fairies  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  attract  audiences  by  the  beauty  of  its  music 
and  its  poetry,  like  its  author's  later  operas,  wisely  con- 
chided  to  bring  it  out  in  a  most  gorgeous  but  thoroughly 
artistic  scenic  attire.  This,  combined  with  the  curiosity 
to  hear  the  first  effort  of  the  most  popular  operatic  com- 
poser of  the  century,  made  The  Fairies  a  quite  unexpected 
success.  It  had  a  "run"  almost  like  an  operetta  during 
the  first  season,  and  is  now  still  played  quite  frequently, 
especially  during  the  tourist  season,  when  many  of  the 
Bayreiith  pilgrims  visit  INIunich. 

The  text-book  of  The  Fairies  has  few  of  those  poetic 
lines  which  abound  in  its  author's  later  dramas,  although 
there  are  some  passages  and  situations  quite  worthy  of 
the  author  of  Lohengrin  and  Siegfried.  The  scenic 
arrangements  already  bear  witness  to  Wagner's  pictorial 
fancy,  and  the  choice  of  a  mythical  subject  is  significant 
of  a  composer  who  based  ten  of  his  thirteen  operas 
on  legendary  and  supernatural  stories.  Musically,  the 
most  striking  trait  of  this  opera  is,  as  the  composer  him- 
self intimates,  its  imitation  of  Beethoven,  Weber,  and 
Marschner ;  he  might  have  added  Mozart,  for  there  are  as 
distinct  "allusions"  to  Do7i  Juan  and  the  Magic  Flute, 
as  there  are  to  Fidelio,  Euryanthe,  and  Oberon.  There 
are  also  a  few  germs  of  ideas  which  he  developed  in  his 

a  new  mise-en-scene  was  provided,  as  sumptuous  as  that  in  Bayreuth. 
The  eminent  Wagnerian  tenor,  Heinrich  Vogl,  who  took  part  in  all 
tliese  private  Parsifal  performances,  told  nie  that  eight  of  them  were 
given  altogether,  the  King's  appetite  for  Wagner's  music  being  insa- 
tiable up  to  the  end  of  his  life.  To  the  King's  subjects  it  must  have 
been  a  consideration  as  tantalizing  as  it  was  romantic  and  unique,  that 
Wagner's  last,  and  in  some  respects  grandest,  work  was  being  given 
over  and  over  again  in  their  Court  Theatre,  and  no  one  permitted  to 
hear  it  but  their  monarch. 


AT  MAGDEBURG.  —  A   STEP  BACKWARD        41 

later  operas  (especially  Rlenzi  and  the  Flying  Dutchman) 
and  in  the  Faust  overture.  There  is  also  that  peculiar 
bombastic  striving  for  exaggerated  expression  which 
characterizes  much  of  thef?fE?izt  music;  but  of  the  melo- 
dic beauty,  harmonic  originality,  and  varied  orchestral 
coloring  of  his  later  works  there  are  but  few  traces,  while 
on  the  other  hand  the  management  of  the  orchestra,  alone 
or  in  combination  with  the  chorus,  already  shows  much 
of  that  ingenuity  which  enabled  him  subsequently  to 
Avrite  those  magnificent  ensembles  in  Lohengrin  and  the 
Meister singer  ^ 

AT  MAGDEBURG.  —  A   STEP   BACKWARD 

Not  only  was  Wagner's  creative  genius  slow  in  devel- 
oping, but  in  the  period  we  have  now  arrived  at  he 
actually  made  a  step  backward^  gave  up  the  serious 
musical  ideals  which  Weber  and  Beethoven  had  taught 
before  him,  and  began  to  flirt  with  the  coquettish,  seduc- 
tive operatic  muse  of  the  period,  who  promised  him 
success  and  luxury  if  he  would  throw  himself  into  her 
arms.  He  had  accepted  an  appointment,  in  1834,  as 
musical  director  of  the  opera  at  Magdeburg,  where  he 
had  an  opportunity  to  become  thoroughly  familiar  with 
all  the  trivial   operatic   melodies  of  the  time.      "The 

1  More  detailed  accounts  of  the  performance  of  The  Fairies  in 
Muiiicli  may  be  found  in  the  Musikalisches  Wochenblatt,  July  19  and 
Auj^.  1,  1888,  and  in  Mr.  L.  C.  Elson's  European  Reminisceiices  (Chi- 
cago, 1891,  pp.  99-102).  Mr.  Elson  found  it  strange  to  hear  "the  con- 
ventional aria,  scena,  cavatina,  prayer,  and  mad  scene  in  a  Wagnerian 
work.  The  opera  throughout,"  he  says,  "  crushes  the  critics  who  have 
maintained  tliat  Wagner  was  hy  nature  incapabh;  of  composing  tunes. 
...  It  is  one  of  the  '  ifs  '  of  musical  history  whether  Wagner  could  not 
have  composed  comic  opera,  in  the  French  sense,  had  he  practised 
more  in  this  vein.    Thank  Heaven,  he  did  not  1  " 


42  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

rehearsing  and  conducting  of  these  light-jointed  fash- 
ionable French  operas,  the  cleverness  and  brilliancy  of 
their  orchestral  effects,"  he  writes  (IV.  316),  "often 
gave  me  a  childish  sort  of  pleasure  when  I  could  let 
these  things  loose,  right  and  left,  from  my  conductor's 
desk."  His  artistic  conscience  was  demoralized  by  see- 
ing what  enthiisiasm  this  trivial  sort  of  music  produced. 
Why  not  write  similar  things  and  become  the  man  of  the 
hour?  His  score  of  The  Fairies  became  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  him,  and  he  no  longer  thought  of  getting 
it  performed.  It  was  too  serious,  and  of  too  elevated  a 
character  to  suit  his  new  mood;  and  he  now  began  to 
meditate  on  a  very  different  sort  of  opera,  concerning 
which  he  says :  — 

"A  strange  demoralization  of  my  taste  had  resulted  from  my 
connection  (during  two  winters  at  Magdeburg)  witli  German 
operatic  affairs,  and  this  demoralization  was  manifested  in  the 
whole  conception  and  execution  of  my  new  opera  in  such  a  way 
that  surely  no  one  could  have  recognized  from  this  score  the  youth- 
ful Beethoven-and- Weber  enthusiast." 

This  "  demoralization "  affected  not  only  his  artistic 
conscience,  but  his  general  views  of  life.  He  had,  through 
books  and  personal  intercourse,  come  under  the  influence 
of  a  class  of  revolutionary  writers,  who  attacked  social 
hypocrisy  and  preached  doctrines  that  smacked  of  anarchy 
and  free  love.  It  was  in  this  mood  that  he  wrote  his 
new  opera.  The  Novice  of  Palermo,  of  which  he  has  him- 
self -^  given  a  most  interesting  and  amusing  account. 

1  Das  Liebesverbot ;  Gessaynmelte  Schriften,  Vol.  I.  pp.  27-40.  Eng- 
lish version  iu  BurUngame's  Art  Life  and  Theories  of  Wagner,  pp.  27- 
40. 


TEE  NOVICE  OF  PALERMO  43 


THE  NOVICE   OF   PALERMO 

"  One  fine  morning  I  stole  away  from  my  surroundings,  to  take 
a  solitary  breakfast  on  the  Schlackenburg,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
sketch  a  new  opera-poem  in  my  notebook.  I  had  chosen  for  this 
the  subject  of  Shakespeare's  Measure  for  Measr(re,  which  I  now,  in 
harmony  with  my  present  mood,  transformed  in  a  very  free  manner 
into  an  opera-book  to  which  I  gave  the  title  Das  Liebesverbot  [the  . 
Love-Veto] .  The  ideas  of  '  Young  Europe  '  that  were  in  the  air  at 
that  time,  combined  with  the  reading  of  [Heinse's]  Ardinghello,  and 
intensified  by  the  peculiar  mood  which  my  operatic  experiences 
had  put  me  into,  supplied  the  keynote  for  my  production,  which 
was  especially  aimed  against  Puritan  hypocrisy,  and  thus  led  to  the 
bold  glorification  of  '  unchecked  sensuality.'  I  took  great  pains  to 
look  at  the  serious  Shakespearian  subject  only  from  this  point  of 
view ;  I  saw  only  the  sinister,  severe  governor,  himself  burning  with 
a  violent  passion  for  the  young  novice,  who,  while  imploring  him 
for  the  pardon  of  her  brother  who  is  condemned  to  death  for  an 
amorous  intrigue,  has  through  the  contagiousness  of  her  warm 
human  feelings  aroused  in  the  stern  Puritan  a  consuming  flame. 
That  these  powerful  motives  are  in  Shakespeare's  piece  so  richly 
developed  merely  in  order  to  be  found  the  more  weighty  at  last  in 
the  scales  of  justice,  I  did  not  at  all  care  to  notice  ;  what  I  was 
concerned  about,  was  to  expose  the  sinfulness  of  hypocrisy  and  the 
unnaluralness  of  moral  prudery.  Consequently  I  dropped  the 
Measure  for  Measure  entirely,  and  made  avenging  love  alone  inflict 
l)unishment  on  the  hypocrite.  I  transferred  the  scene  from  the 
fabulous  Vienna  to  the  capital  of  glowing  Sicily,  in  which  a 
German  governor,  disgusted  with  the  incredibly  easy  morals  of  the 
population,  attempts  to  carry  out  a  Puritan  reform,  in  which  he 
lui.serably  fails." 

To  this  brief  sketch  Wagner  adds  a  long  and  detailed 
analysis  of  the  plot,  which  it  is  hardly  worth  while  t( 
follow  here,  as  the  opera  will  in  all  ])robal)ility  never  bt 
revived.     Its   single   performance  at  Magdeburg,    how- 


44  THE  FIRST   OPERAS 

ever,   took  place  under  circumstances  so  extraordinary 
that  they  must  be  briefly  related. 

The  city  of  Magdeburg,  where  Wagner  composed  his 
Novice  of  Palermo  and  conducted  the  Opera  two  winter 
seasons,  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  flourishing  commercial 
cities  in  Germany,  with  a  fortress  of  the  first  rank  and 
a  population  of  160,000.  In  1836,  however,  it  had  only 
40,000,  and  the  business  men  and  soldiers  who  made  up 
its  population  do  not  appear  to  have  cared  much  for 
opera.  Tliis  we  learn  from  a  correspondent  of  the  Neue 
ZeUschrift  fur  Musik,  who  exclaims :  "  What  more  do  you 
want  than  the  assurance  that  we  have  had  a  better  opera 
this  winter  than  ever  before?  What  do  you  say  if  I  add 
that  everybody  admitted  this,  and  yet  no  one  went  to  the 
opera,  and  that  the  house  had  to  be  closed  before  the 
winter  season  was  over?  "  He  then  goes  on  to  describe 
the  singers,  and  continues :  — 

"If  you  add  to  all  this  that  a  young,  clever  artist,  like  Musik- 
director  Richard  Wagner,  succeeded  with  ardor  and  skill  in  creating 
an  excellent  ensemble,  it  was  inevitable  that  we  should  have  had 
some  great  artistic  treats."  Yet  the  philistines  neglected  the  opera, 
and  "I  can  see  in  the  case  of  Wagner  and  persons  like  him  and 
myself,  what  a  torture  it  is  to  have  to  live  in  such  a  commercial 
and  military  city  while  all  one's  nerves  and  fibres  ci'ave  for  activity." 

It  was  under  such  discouraging  circumstances  that 
Wagner  was  doomed  to  bring  out  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life  an  opera  of  his  own  composition.  In  return  for  some 
travelling  expenses  incurred  by  him  in  an  official  capacity 
he  was  entitled  to  a  benefit  performance.  He  naturally 
seized  on  this  opportunity  to  produce  his  new  opera. 
This  involved  a  considerable  outlay  for  scenery  and 
rehearsals,  and  as  he  did  not  wish  to  load  this  on  the 


THE  NOVICE  OF  PALERMO  46 

management,  which  was  already  on  the  point  of  bank- 
ruptcy, he  agreed  to  give  two  performances,  and  to  reserve 
for  himself  the  profits  of  the  second  only.  It  was  near 
the  end  of  the  season,  but  this  did  not  seem  a  disadvan- 
tage, as  the  last  performances  of  the  season  were  usually 
better  attended  than  the  preceding  ones.  Unfortunately, 
some  of  the  singers,  whose  salary  was  in  arrears,  handed 
in  their  resignation,  and  it  was  only  owing  to  Wagner's 
personal  popularity  with  them  that  he  succeeded  in 
retaining  them  a  little  longer.  Ten  days  only  were  avail- 
able for  rehearsing  an  opera  of  great  dimensions  and  with 
many  difficult  ensemble  numbers.  To  continue  in  Wag- 
ner's own  words:  — 

"I  relied,  however,  on  the  success  of  special  efforts  to  which, 
for  my  sake,  the  singers  willingly  submitted,  studying  their  parts 
day  and  night ;  and  as,  in  spite  of  this,  it  was  simply  impossible 
to  establish  any  certainty  of  execution  and  memory  on  the  part 
of  the  hard-worked  artists,  I  finally  counted  on  a  mii-acle  to  be 
worked  through  the  skill  in  conducting  which  I  had  already  ac- 
quired. What  a  peculiar  faculty  I  did  possess  for  helping  the 
singers,  and  for  keeping  up  a  certain  apparent  smoothness  of  move- 
ment notwithstanding  their  uncertainty,  was  actually  shown  at 
the  few  rehearsals  with  orchestra,  where  I  succeeded,  by  means 
of  corLStant  prompting,  singing  along  loudly,  and  giving  direc- 
tions concerning  the  acting,  in  keeping  the  whole  so  far  in  order 
that  one  was  justified  in  hoping  that  the  result  might  be  quite 
tolerable." 

In  making  tliese  calculations  he  forgot  that  a  per- 
formance is  a  different  matter  from  a  rehearsal;  for  when 
tlie  house  was  filled  with  spectators  the  conductor  could 
not  sing  along  and  give  loiul  hints  as  before;  the  conse- 
quence being  an  utterly  chaotic  representation  which 
must  have  bewildered  the  audience  all  the  more  as  no 


46  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

librettos  had  been  printed  to  explain  the  plot.  No  wonder 
that,  at  the  second  performance,  fifteen  minutes  before 
the  rising  of  the  curtain,  the  comiDOser  saw  no  one  in  the 
parquet  but  his  housewife  and  her  husband,  and  a  Polish 
Jew  in  full  costume.  He  hoped  for  a  few  more  specta- 
tors, but  the  curtain  was  fated  never  to  rise  again  on  his 
opera.  A  quarrel,  prompted  by  jealousy,  broke  out 
among  the  singers  behind  the  scenes  and  reached  such 
dimensions  that  the  stage  manager  had  to  come  before 
the  curtain  and  announce  that  no  performance  would 
take  place,  on  account  of  "unforeseen  impediments." 
Thus  ended  the  season,  and  Wagner's  opera. 

Not  that  he  gave  it  up  at  once  in  consequence  of  this 
mishap,  which  could  hardly  be  called  a  fiasco,  as  the 
opera  had  really  had  "  no  show  "  at  all.  The  correspon- 
dent above  referred  to  concludes  his  notice  of  the  new 
opera  with  these  words :  "  This  much  I  know,  that  the 
work  will  succeed  if  the  composer  can  get  it  performed 
at  a  good  theatre.  There  is  much  in  it;  everything  sounds 
well;  it  has  music  and  it  has  melody,  which  is  pretty  far 
to  seek  in  our  German  operas  of  the  period."  Wagner, 
too,  had  faith  enough  in  his  opera  to  offer  it  to  the  man- 
agers in  Leipzig  and  in  Berlin,  but  without  success. 
Three  years  later,  when  he  was  in  Paris,  he  tried  to  bring 
it  out  at  the  Theatre  de  la  Eenaissance;  its  frivolous 
subject  seemed  well  suited  for  the  French  stage.  Three 
numbers  had  already  been  translated,  so  successfully,  as 
Wagner  attests,  "  that  my  music  sounded  better  to  the 
French  words  than  to  the  original  German  text;  for  it 
was  music  such  as  is  most  easily  understood  by  the 
French,  and  everything  promised  well  when  the  Theatre 
de  la  Renaissance  became  bankrupt!     All  trouble,  all 


THE  NOVICE  OF  PALERMO  47 

hopes,  liad  therefore  been  in  vain.  I  now  gave  up  my 
Liebesverbot  entirely;  I  felt  that  I  could  not  respect 
myself  any  longer  as  its  composer."  This  attitude 
regarding  the  Novice  of  Palermo  was  of  course  not 
altered  but  rather  accentuated  later  in  life.  In  1866 
he  dedicated  the  score  to  King  Ludwig  11.^  with  the 
following  lines  in  which  he  pronounces  it  a  "  sin  of  his 
youth,"  from  which  he  begs  the  monarch  to  absolve 
him  by  accepting  it :  — 

"Ich  irrte  einst  und  mocht'es  nun  verbiissen: 
Wie  mach'  ich  mich  der  Jugendsiinde  frei  ? 
Ihr  Werk  leg' ich  demiithig  Dir  zu  FUssen, 
Dass  Deine  Gnade  ihm  Erloser  sei." 

1  The  score  of  this  opera,  the  performance  of  which  thus  had  the 
curious  fate  of  being  twice  frustrated  by  the  failure  of  an  operatic 
institution,  is  preserved  at  the  Munich  opera-liouse.  In  July,  1891,  I 
visited  the  eminent  Wagnerian  tenor,  Heinrich  Yogi,  who,  when  not 
employed  at  the  Munich  opera-house,  lives  with  his  family  at  a  country 
seat  near  Tutzing  on  Lake  Starnberg,  where  he  has  large  grain-tields, 
tine  scenery,  including  a  small  private  lake,  and,  as  guardian  of  his 
house,  a  large  dog  named  Wotan,  a  direct  descendant  of  one  of  Wag- 
ner's famous  animals.  Herr  Vogl  gave  me  much  valuable  information 
regarding  Wagner's  life  at  Munich  and  his  relations  with  the  King, 
which  will  be  only  made  use  of  in  its  place.  Regarding  the  Novice  of 
Palermo  he  told  me  an  interesting  circumstance  which,  I  believe,  has 
never  got  into  print.  After  the  tremendous  success  of  The  Fairies  the 
thought  naturally  occurred  that  Wagner's  other  juvenile  opera  might 
perhaps  be  revived  opportunely.  The  artists  were  therefore  selected  and 
a  rehearsal  was  held  which  lasted  five  hours,  and  which  sealed  the  fate 
of  The  Novice  of  Palermo.  "The  arias  and  other  numbers,"  said  Herr 
Vogl,  "  were  such  ludicrous  and  undisguised  imitations  of  Donizetti 
and  other  popular  composers  of  that  time,  that  we  all  burst  out  laugh- 
ing and  kept  up  the  merriment  througliout  the  rehearsal.  I  was  for 
giving  the  opera,  in  spite  of  this,  as  a  curiosity,  and  because  it  could 
of  course  not  injure  Wagner's  reputation  ;  nor  was  the  Intendant  quite 
averse  to  giving  it.  Ultimately,  however,  we  all  agreed  that  it  would 
])e  better  to  leave  it  alone,  less  on  account  of  the  nuisii;  than  because 
of  the  licentious  character  of  the  libretto.  So  the  manuscript  was 
shelved  again." 


48  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

Concerning  the  music  of  this  opera  Wagner  himself 
says,  in  several  places :  — 

' '  I  had  abandoned  abstract  mysticism  and  learned  to  love  the 
material.  An  attractive  subject,  wit,  and  cleverness  seemed  to  me 
delightful  things :  as  regards  my  music  I  found  both  among  the 
French  and  Italians.  I  gave  up  my  prototype  Beethoven.  ...  At 
a  concert  I  produced  the  overture  to  my  Fairies  ;  it  was  very  well 
received.  ...  A  good  impression  was  made  on  the  public  by  a 
New  Year's  cantata  ^  which  I  had  written  hastily.  Such  easy  suc- 
cesses confirmed  me  in  the  belief  that,  in  order  to  please,  one  must 
not  be  too  scrupulous  regarding  one's  means.  In  this  mood  I 
continued  the  composition  of  my  Novice  of  Palermo.  I  did  not 
take  the  slightest  pains  to  avoid  imitating  the  French  and  the 
Italians  "  —  all  the  less  as  he  had  noticed  what  tremendous  effects 
a  great  artist  like  Joan  Schroeder-Devrient  was  capable  of  pro- 
ducing even  in  so  flimsy  a  work  as  Bellini's  Romeo  and  Juliet. 
He  mentions  Au\)er,  Verdi,  and  Bellini  as  among  his  new  models, 
and  concludes  that  ' '  if  any  one  should  compare  this  score  with 
that  of  The  Fairies  he  would  find  it  difficult  to  understand  how 
such  a  complete  change  in  my  tendencies  could  have  been  brought 
about  in  so  short  a  time.  A  compromise  between  the  two  was  to 
be  the  goal  of  my  further  artistic  development." 

FIRST   CTRITICAL   ESSAY 

The  sudden  change  in  Wagner's  ideals  and  methods 
will  seem  less  enigmatic  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  he 
was  simply  swimming  with  the  musical  current,  and  as 
a  youth  of  only  twenty-two  could  hardly  be  expected  to 
have  the  strength  to  swim  against  it,  as  he  did  later, 
beginning  with  the  Flying  Dutchman.     Not  he  alone  but 

1  In  this  cantata  Wagner  made  use  of  the  andante  of  his  first  sym- 
phony —  one  of  the  very  few  cases  where  he  followed  a  device  resorted 
to  by  Handel  and  other  famous  composers,  of  borrowing  from  his  own 
earlier  works. 


FIRST  CRITICAL  ESSAY  49 

the  whole  German  nation  turned  their  backs  on  Beethoven 
and  Weber,  who  had  just  composed  their  greatest  works 
—  Fidelio  and  Eun/anthe  —  and  listened  only  to  Rossini, 
Auber,  and  other  Italian  and  French  composers.  Wagner 
himself  voiced  the  opinion  of  the  average  opera-goer  of 
that  time  in  his  first  critical  essay,  which  was  printed 
in  the  Zeituvg fur  die  EleganteWelt  (June  10,  1834),  and 
which  contains  opinions  regarding  vocal  music,  the 
opera,  and  German  composers  diametrically  opposed  to 
his  more  mature  opinions  expressed  in  later  years.  The 
essay  is  too  long  to  reprint  here,^  but  the  following 
remarks  on  Weber's  Euryanthe  may  be  cited  as  an 
example :  — 

"  What  petty  calculation  in  its  declamation,  what  timid  employ- 
ment of  this  or  that  instrument  to  enforce  the  expressiveness  of  a 
word !  Instead  of  sketching  a  situation  with  a  single  bold  and 
broad  stroke,  he  breaks  up  the  general  impression  by  minute 
details  and  detailed  minuteness.  How  difficult  he  finds  it  to  give 
life  to  his  ensembles ;  how  the  second  finale  drags !  Here  an 
instrument,  there  a  voice,  wants  to-day  something  awfully  wise, 
and  ultimately  none  of  them  knows  what  it  says.  And  as  the 
hearers  have  to  confess,  at  the  end,  that  they  did  not  understand 
anything,  they  console  themselves  with  the  fact  that  at  any  rate 
it  must  be  regarded  as  very  erudite,  and  therefore  worthy  of  great 
respect.  Oh,  this  unfortimate  erudition  —  this  source  of  all  Ger- 
man evils  ! " 

Compare  with  this  the  reference  to  Euryanthe  in  one 
of  his  last  essays  (X.  219),  and  the  change  in  his  critical 
opinions  will  be  found  no  less  pronounced  than  the 
growth  in  his  musical  and  poetic  style,  from  the  Novice 
of  Palermo  to  Siegfried.    "This  Euryanthe,'^  he  exciaims 

1  See  the  Wafjncr  Jahrbuch,  188G,  pp.  377-379. 


50  THE  FIRST  OPERAS 

with  an  artist's  exaggeration,  "in  wliich,  notwithstand- 
ing its  reputed  tediousness,  every  single  number  is  worth 
more  than  all  the  opera  seria  of  Italy,  France,  and 
Judcea ! "  Yet  in  spite  of  this  extravagant  statement, 
Wagner  retained  to  the  end  of  his  life  the  conviction 
that  —  in  their  own  way  —  the  Italians  and  the  French 
had  a  more  perfect  and  harmonious  operatic  style  than 
the  Germans,  whose  opera  was  too  much  based  on  foreign 
models  to  be  truly  national  and  unique.  It  was  the  aim 
of  his  life  to  create  a  national  German  opera,  as  unique 
as  were  the  Italian  and  the  French  styles ;  and  in  this  he 
succeeded. 


KONIGSBERG   AND   RIGA 

The  failure  of  the  Magdeburg  opera  company  once 
more  threw  Wagner  on  his  own  resources,  which  were 
not  great;  in  fact,  they  were  of  a  7ninns  quantity.  He 
had  borrowed  money  right  and  left  (a  habit  which  he 
kept  up  from  necessity  for  many  years),  in  the  hope  and 
expectation  of  repaying  it  from  the  proceeds  of  the  second 
performance  of  his  opera  at  Magdeburg;  b\it  as  that 
second  performance  was  never  given,  he  found  himself 
in  debt  and  out  of  employment  at  the  same  time.  He 
made  his  first  visit  to  Berlin  to  try  to  secure  a  perform- 
ance of  his  Novice  of  Palermo,  but  failed.  Then,  hearing 
that  the  Konigsberg  Theatre  needed  a  musical  director, 
he  went  there  to  apply  for  the  position;  but  as  he  could 
not  get  a  definite  answer  at  once,  he  wrote  to  his  friend, 
Heinrich  Dorn,  to  inquire  whether  he  could  not  secure  a 
place  for  him.^  Dorn  was  not  able  to  do  anything,  for 
the  time  being,  but  meanwhile  the  Konigsberg  position 
was  assigned  to  Wagner,  who  took  possession  of  it  in 
January,  1837,  after  nine  months  of  enforced  inactivity. 

AN   IMrRUDENT   MARRIAGE 

Two  months  previously  to  this  event  Wagner  had  taken 
a  step  which  was  to  affect  his  life  most  seriously  for 

1  Tliis  letter  is  printed  in  Dorn's  Ergebnisse  aus  Erlebnissen,  1877, 
p.  158. 

51 


62  KONIGSBEBG  AND  RIGA 

almost  twenty-five  years.  At  Magdebiirg  he  had  become 
engaged  to  an  actress  named  Wilhelmine  (or  Minna) 
Planer,  and  on  Nov.  24,  1836,  he  married  her  in  Konigs- 
berg.  Now  it  is  not  necessary  to  agree  with  Bacon  and 
Schopenhauer  that  men  who  wish  to  achieve  greatness  in 
literature  or  art  should  never  marry  at  all;  but  this  much 
is  certain,  that  it  is  very  foolish  for  an  ambitious  and 
struggling  composer,  without  a  position,  and  with  plenty 
of  debts,  to  marry  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  as  Wagner 
did  (Nov.  24,  1836).^  He  had  to  suffer  many  years  for 
this  hasty  step,  and  in  a  poem  which  he  wrote  into  his 
diary  on  Aug.  4,  1840,  in  Paris,  he  gives  us  his  own 
opinion  on  the  matter,  somewhat  in  the  style  of  Heine, 
extolling  the  blessing  of  having  a  wife,  to  those  who 
can  afford  one,  but  vowing,  for  his  part,  that,  were  he 
ten  years  younger,  he  would  act  more  wisely.^ 

Richard  Pohl  says,  in  his  short  Wagner  Biography,' 
of  Minna  Planer,  ''the  pretty  young  actress,"  that  "she 
was  a  faithful,  self-sacrificing  wife  who  bore  with  him 
long  and  devotedly  all  cares  and  privations,  in  Paris 
even  the  bitterest  poverty.  But  she  was  a  prosaic, 
domestic  woman  who  never  understood  her  husband,  and 
who  might  have  been  an  impediment  to  his  far-reaching 
ideas,  his  high-flying  plans,  if  Richard  Wagner  could 
have  been   impeded  in   his   course  by  anything.     The 

1  This  recalls  the  case  of  Berlioz,  who  at  thirty  married  Miss  Smith- 
son,  of  whom  he  says  :  "  On  the  day  of  our  wedding  she  had  nothing  in 
the  world  but  debts,  and  the  fear  of  never  again  being  able  to  appear 
to  advantage  on  the  stage  because  of  her  accident  ;  I,  for  my  part,  had 
three  hundred  francs  [$60]  that  my  friend  Gounet  had  lent  me,  and 
had  quarrelled  again  with  my  parents." 

2  The  poem  may  be  found  in  Kurschner's  TTafirncr  Jahrbuch  for  1886, 
p.  290. 

8  Sammlung  Musikalisher  Vortrdge,  Nos.  53,  54,  p.  141. 


AN  IMPRUDENT  MARRIAGE  63 

natural  end  was  that  they  separated  —  many  years  later, 
it  is  true.  Twenty-five  years  these  two  ill-mated  per- 
sons lived  together  and  sought  to  get  along  with  each 
other." 

Another  intimate  friend  of  Wagner's,  Wilhelm  Tap- 
pert,  remarks  ^  that  "  the  Meister  himself  held  the  mem- 
ory of  his  first  wife  in  great  honor;  it  annoyed  him  to 
read  disparaging  allusions  to  Minna.  Though  she  did 
not  understand  his  genius,  she  bore  —  especially  in  their 
first  years  —  the  trials  of  life  without  grumbling,  and  she 
was,  especially  during  the  first  visit  to  Paris  —  according 
to  the  Meister's  own  assurance  —  an  excellent  housewife, 
who  lovingly  and  faithfully  shared  much  sorrow  and  little 
joy  with  him." 

The  opinion  of  an  eyewitness,  the  painter,  Friedrich 
Pecht,  who  met  the  young  couple  at  this  period,  may 
also  be  quoted :  — 

"  We  all  liked  the  very  pretty  Frau  Wagner,  especially  since  one 
could  no  longer  recognize  in  her  the  former  actress  ;  she  was  most 
amiable,  and  exemplary  in  her  conduct  ;  yet,  after  all,  hers  was  a 
sober,  unimaginative  soul,  entirely  devoted  to  her  husband,  fol- 
lowing him  humbly  wherever  he  went,  but  without  a  conception  ot 
his  greatness,  and,  with  all  her  love  and  devotion,  still  presenting 
an  irreconcilable  contrast  to  him  with  her  mind  set  on  the  strict 
and  formal  commonplace  relations  of  society." 

The  domestic  privations  began  soon  after  their  mar- 
riage. "The  year  which  I  spent  in  Konigsberg  was 
entirely  lost  to  my  art,  througli  the  pettiest  cares.  I 
wrote  a  single  overture :  Mule  Britannia,"  ^  Wagner  writes 

1  Richard  Wagner :  Sein  Leben  und  Seine  Werke,  p.  16. 

2  This  overture,  like  two  others  which  he  wrote  at  this  period  in 
MaK<1el)ur{r  and  Ri^a — Columbus  and  Polonia  —  have  never  been 
printed.  The  manuscript  of  the  Columbus  overture  is  lost,  while  that 
of  the  Polonia  is  in  the  possession  of  Wagner's  heirs. 


54  KONIGSBERG  AND  RIGA 

in  his  Autobiographic  Sketch,  and  in  another  place  he 
says :  "  I  was  in  love,  married  in  a  fit  of  obstinate  reck- 
lessness, tortured  myself  and  others  under  the  disagree- 
able influence  of  a  home  without  the  means  to  keep  it  up, 
and  thus  sank  into  the  misery  which  ruins  thousands 
upon  thousands."  In  brief,  he  had  married  in  very  much 
the  same  spirit  of  obstinate  recklessness  that  had  led  him 
to  bring  out  his  Novice  of  Palermo  under  the  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances.  It  was  fortunate  that  this 
marriage  was  childless.  Had  the  support  and  education 
of  a  large  family  been  added  to  Wagner's  burdens  in 
his  early  manhood,  the  world  would  probably  have  never 
seen  that  series  of  gigantic  music-dramas  which  have 
revolutionized  modern  taste. 

Domestic  cares  were  not  the  only  thing  that  troubled 
him  at  this  time.  He  wanted  to  become  a  great  com- 
poser. His  operatic  instinct  did  not  leave  him  in  peace, 
and  led  him  to  read  novels,  not  as  other  people  do,  for 
amusement,  but  solely  with  a  view  to  finding  a  subject 
for  a  libretto.  Die  Hohe  Braut,  a  novel  by  Heinrich 
Konig,  seemed  to  offer  the  material  for  a  grand  opera  in 
five  acts.  He  sketched  the  plot  in  full,  but  instead  of 
working  it  up  into  a  libretto  for  himself,  he  sent  it  to 
Scribe  in  Paris  with  a  request  to  convert  it  into  an  opera- 
book  and  to  let  him  compose  the  music.  This  step  was, 
of  course,  not  prompted  by  any  distrust  of  his  own  poetic 
faculty,  but  by  a  desire  to  secure  the  famous  Scribe  as  a 
collaborator.  He  had  probably  read  that  The  Huguenots 
of  Meyerbeer,  the  popular  collaborator  of  Scribe,  had  in 
forty  performances  yielded  three  hundred  thousand 
francs;  and  as  Wagner  never  aimed  at  anything  lower 
than   the  highest,  he  unhesitatingly  applied  at  ''head- 


AN  IMPRUDENT  MARRIAGE  55 

quarters."  Scribe  of  course  paid  no  attention  to  this 
letter  from  an  unknown  young  musician,  and  in  a  subse- 
quent communication  to  Wagner  said  he  did  not  remem- 
ber having  ever  received  it  (he  probably  received  hundreds 
like  it) ;  and  this  Avas  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  disap- 
pointments which  Wagner  was  to  suffer  from  hopes  based 
on  Paris. 

His  remarkable  and  positively  obstinate  persistence 
in  this  matter  is  strikingly  brought  out  in  a  letter  which 
he  wrote  to  his  friend  Lewald,^  who  had  lived  in  Paris 
and  was  at  that  time  an  influential  editor  in  Leipzig. 
(He  was  subsequently  incarcerated  in  Berlin  for  nine 
months  on  account  of  his  liberal  opinions.)  To  him 
Wagner  appealed,  with  the  request  to  use  his  inflvience 
to  secure  the  collaboration  of  Scribe  in  his  operas. 
After  explaining  about  the  sketch  he  had  made  of  the 
novel  Die  Hohe  Braid  for  a  libretto,  he  continues :  — 

"This  sketch,  accompanied  by  a  letter,  I  gave  to  my  brother-in- 
law  Friedrich  Brockhaus  with  the  request  to  forward  it  to  Paris. 
After  waiting  six  months  in  vain  for  an  answer,  I  wrote  agam  to 
Scribe,  and  took  the  blame  for  his  silence  on  myself,  as  I  had  to 
confess  that  he  must  be  at  a  loss  what  to  answer,  since  he  had  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  me  or  of  my  faculty  for  composing.  To 
remove  this  dithculty,  I  enclosed  the  score  of  my  opera  the  Love 
Veto,  or  the  Novice  of  Palermo,  after  Shakespeare's  Pleasure  for 
Measure.  I  begged  him  to  get  the  opinion  of  Auber  or  Meyerbeer 
on  tliis  score,  and  to  be  guided  thereby  in  the  decision  whether  I 
was  able  to  compose  an  opera  good  enough  for  Paris.  In  case  this 
opera  should  meet  with  approval,  I  offered  it  to  him  also,  with  the 

1  Printed  in  tlic  Frankfurter  Zeitumj  (Jan.  3,  1888),  where  it  is 
explained  that  Wai^iier  had  a  liabit,  from  liis  youth  to  liis  last  days,  of 
writiiij;  a  first  sketch  of  all  his  letters  in  note-books.  The  one  contain- 
iiii;  tliis  letter  and  several  others  was  offered  at  an  auction  sale  of 
manuscripts,  and  thus  found  its  way  into  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung. 


66  KONIGSBERG   AND  RIGA 

explanation  that  he  could  easily  have  a  rough  French  translation  of 
it  made  by  any  one  and  convert  this  at  his  discretion  into  a  Scribe 
libretto,  to  be  offered  to  the  Opera  Comique. 

"To  this  letter  I  received  in  June,  1837,  a  detailed  answer  from 
Scribe,  vsrhich  completely  exonerated  him  of  the  charge  of  previous 
negligence  —  for  he  had  never  received  the  letter  forwarded  by 
Brockhaus,  and  therefore  did  not  know  what  I  desired.  He  thanked 
me  for  the  score  I  had  sent,  begged  for  further  details  regarding 
my  desires,  and  promised  to  do  for  me  anything  that  was  in  his 
power. 

"  This  was  not  so  bad,  and  I  hastened  to  .send  him,  from  Dres- 
den, an  old  copy  of  the  lost  sketch  for  my  five-act  opera  on  the  sub- 
ject of  this  Hohe  Braut.  This  letter  I  put  into  the  post  —  unstamped 
to  insure  safe  delivery  —  and  that  is  the  end  of  the  story." 

The  question  now  was,  had  Scribe  received  this  last 
letter?  Would  not  Lewald  try  to  find  out  and  see  what 
he  could  do  about  it?  In  case  neither  of  those  two  pro- 
jects was  approved,  Wagner  was  ready  with  a  third  one  — 
Rienzi,  which  he  declares  "  much  grander  "  than  its  prede- 
cessors. "  I  intend  to  compose  it  in  the  German  language, 
to  make  an  attempt  whether  there  is  a  possibility  of 
getting  it  performed  in  Berlin,  in  course  of  fifty  years,  if 
God  grant  me  so  long  a  life.  Perhaps  Scribe  will  like 
it,  in  which  case  Rienzi  will  learn  to  sing  French  in  a 
moment;  or  else  this  might  be  a  way  to  goad  the  Ber- 
liners  to  accept  the  opera,  if  they  were  told  that  Paris 
was  ready  to  bring  it  out,  but  that  preference  was  for 
once  to  be  given  to  Berlin ;  for  a  stage  like  that  of  Berlin 
or  Paris  is  absolutely  necessary  to  bring  out  such  a  work 
properly.  There  will  be  no  lack  of  material  or  untiring 
effort  on  my  part,  for  I  feel  convinced  that  I  should  have 
already  done  the  Lord  knows  what  if  only  the  doors  were 
once  opened  for  me." 


THE  HAPPY  BEAR-FAMILY  67 

Wagner  evidently  believed  in  himself  at  this  period, 
and  this  consciousness  of  his  powers,  and  faith  in  his 
future,  can  also  be  read  between  the  lines  when  he  closes 
his  letter  to  Lewald  Avith  the  offer  of  a  share  in  the 
profits,  and  the  humorous  promise  that  if  Lewald  can 
help  him  by  interesting  Meyerbeer  or  others  in  his  cause, 
he  will  be  surely  rewarded  by  the  thanks  of  posterity: 
"  In  that  case  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Germans 
will  place  an  extra  statue  of  you  in  the  Pantheon,  which 
no  doubt  they  will  soon  erect  to  their  great  men,  and  the 
Lord,  in  His  surprise  that  a  German  author  has  assisted 
a  poor  German  composer  to  honors  in  Paris,  will  be  at  a 
loss  as  to  what  blessing  to  bestow  on  you." 

THE   HAPPY   BEAR-FAMILY 

All  this  correspondence,  as  already  intimated,  led  to 
no  result.  Before  it  was  written  the  Konigsberg  theatre 
had  become  bankrupt,  and  the  unlucky  Wagner  was  again 
thrown  out  of  employment.  Fortunately,  his  friend 
Dorn  came  to  the  rescue  this  time.  He  succeeded  in 
getting  for  him  the  position  of  Musik-director,  and  for 
his  wife  aTplace^as  an  actress  in  a  new  theatrical  com- 
pany organized  by  the  poet  Carl  von  Holtei  in  the  Russian 
city^f  Riga.^ 

In  the  aiitumn  of  1837  he  assumed  his  duties  at  Riga, 
concerning  which  he  relates :  — 

1  A  Konigsl)erg  correspondent  of  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik 
(1837)  notes  Wagner's  departure  from  that  city,  and  adds:  "  He  was 
liere  too  short  a  time  to  be  able  to  show  his  varied  talents.  His  com- 
positions, of  which  I  heard  one  overture  and  saw  the  score  of  another, 
indicate  the  gift  of  individual  creativeness.  .Some  people  are  clear  in 
their  characters  and  their  works  from  the  begiiming,  otliers  have  to 
first  work  their  way  through  a  chaos  of  passions.  The  latter,  it  is  true, 
reach  a  hiyher  yoal." 


58  KONIGSBEBG  AND  RIGA 

"  I  found  good  material  for  an  opera  company,  and  went  to  work 
with  mucli  zeal  to  make  good  use  of  it.  During  this  period  I  com- 
posed several  airs  for  interpolation  in  operas  by  the  singers.  I  also 
wrote  the  text  of  a  two-act  comic  opera,  the  Happy  Bear-Family, 
the  subject  of  which  I  had  taken  from  a  story  in  the  Thousand 
and  One  Nights.  Two  numbers  of  it  were  already  finished  when  I 
discovered,  to  my  disgust,  that  I  was  again  on  the  way  to  compose 
a  la  Adam  ;  my  deepest  feelings  were  lacerated  by  this  discovery. 
I  loathed  the  work,  and  left  it  unfinished.  The  daily  rehearsing 
and  conducting  of  the  music  of  Auber,  Adam,  and  Bellini  soon 
helped  to  change  my  former  delight  in  it  to  utter  weariness." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  his  recovery  from  his  tem- 
porary aberration  of  taste,  and  the  recovery  was  acceler- 
ated by  the  fact  that  the  daily  contact  with  theatrical 
life  and  its  petty  vanities  and  intrigues  began  to  inspire 
him  with  as  much  distaste  as  the  trivial,  clap-trap  music 
he  was  usually  called  upon  to  conduct.  He  relates  some- 
where that  in  his  childhood,  notwithstanding  his  love  of 
the  theatre  and  the  opera,  he  had  manifested  an  aversion 
to  the  thought  of  becoming  an  actor,  even  while  he 
amused  himself  by  attempts  at  acting  in  his  room.  The 
images  with  which  his  imagination  had  been  filled  on 
reading  about  the  ancient  Greek  drama  seemed  to  have 
inspired  in  him,  as  he  believed,  an  aversion  to  tlie  painted 
actors  on  the  stage  and  their  artificialities.  This  aver- 
sion reached  a  climax  at  Riga. 

"  What  we  understand  by  theatrical  life  (Komodiantenwirth- 
schaft)  soon  revealed  itself  to  me  in  its  true  light,  and  the  opera 
which  I  had  begun  to  compose  for  such  a  sphere  suddenly  began 
to  disgust  me  so  violently  that  I  threw  everything  aside,  confined 
my  relations  with  the  theatre  more  and  more  to  the  mere  fulfilment 
of  my  duties  as  conductor,  avoided  all  contact  with  the  actors,  and 
withdrew  into  that  region  of  my  inner  self  where  the  ardent  longing 
to  escape  from  my  habitual  surroundings  was  being  nurtured." 


TWO  ACTS   OF  BIENZI  59 

In  this  desire  for  isolation  he  went  so  far  as  to  choos(> 
his  residence  in  a  remote  suburb.  His  aversion  to  stage- 
life  did  not,  however,  induce  him  to  neglect  his  duties. 
On  the  contrary,  it  is  on  record  that  the  singers  were 
annoyed  by  the  long  and  frequent  rehearsals  to  which 
he  subjected  them  and  in  which  he  never  seemed  to 
be  satisfied,  and  finally  they  made  a  complaint  to  Director 
Holtei,  who,  though  he  doubtless  knew  that  his  Kapell- 
meister was  only  doing  his  duty,  begged  him  "  not  to  kill 
the  singers  "  in  his  zeal.-^ 

TWO   ACTS    OF    RIENZI 

The  experiences  which  Wagner  had  so  far  made  with 
his  own  early  operas,  and  his  observations  regarding  the 
fate  of  other  composers,  convinced  him  of  the  utter  ina- 
bility of  provincial  audiences  to  form  ^judgment  con- 
cerning a  new  opera,  unless  it  had  already  been  approved 
*at^some  royal  institution.  He  therefore  decided  to  plan 
his  next  opera  on  so  large  a  scale  that  he  would  not  be 
tempted  to  try  it  at  a  provincial  theatre  \  where  even  a 
success  would  not  be  likely  to  be  more  than  local.  In 
this  determination  he  sketched  the  five  acts  of  Rienzi, 
and  found  that  the  subject  practically  necessitated  the 
colossal  dimensions  he  had  determined  upon.  The  sketch 
was  made  in  the  summer  of  1838,  and  in  the  autumn 
following  he  began  to  compose  the  music  with  the  feel- 
ing, as  he  says,  that  he  was  now  sufficiently  advanced  in 
his  artistic  development  "  to  demand  something  valuable 
and  to  expect  sometliiug  invaluable.  The  thought  of 
being  consciously  shallow  or  trivial,  if  only  for  a  single 

1  Glasenapp,  I.  pp.  74,  75. 


60  EONIGSBERG  AND  RIGA 

bar,  was  terrible  to  me.  With  great  enthusiasm  I  con- 
tinued to  compose  during  tlie  winter,  so  that  in  the 
spring  of  1839  the  first  two  long  acts  were  done.  About 
this  time  my  contract  with  the  theatre-director  came  to 
an  end,  and  special  circumstances  made  it  undesirable  for 
me  to  stay  any  longer  at  Eiga." 

These  "  circumstances  "  were  of  a  disagreeable  nature, 
and  they  were  partly  his  fault,  partly  his  misfortune. 
It  was  his  misfortune  that  the  failure  at  Magdeburg  of 
his  Novice  of  Palermo,  in  which  he  had  risked  his  own 
and  borrowed  money,  had  left  him  saddled  with  debts 
which  he  had  been  unable  to  liquidate  with  his  small 
salary  at  Konigsberg.  It  was  his  fault,  in  part  at  least, 
that  these  debts  continued  to  grow  during  his  sojourn 
at  Riga.  The  plain  fact  is  that  Wagner  had  more  than 
the  usual  share  of  improvidence  allotted  to  men  of 
genius,  and  his  aristocratic  tastes  and  habits  led  him 
into  many  expenditures  which  he  could  have  avoided. 
He  lived,  while  at  Riga,  with  his  wife  and  one  of  her 
sisters,  in  an  expensive  suburb  of  the  city,  which  com- 
pelled him  to  pay  two  or  three  times  a  day  the  cab-fare 
between  his  house  and  the  theatre.  His  wife,  still  an 
actress,  in  which  capacity  she  had  shown  considerable 
talent,  had  not  yet  developed  the  gift  of  economy  which 
subsequently  distinguished  her;  and  that  she  did  not 
bring  her  husband  a  penny  of  dowry  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  poor  spindle- 
maker  who  had  eleven  other  children. 

An  interesting  draught  of  a  letter  of  this  period  has 
been  preserved  ^  in  which  Wagner's  desperate  situation 
is  vividly  painted  by  himself.    It  seems  that  the  manager 

1  Frankfurter  Zeitung,  Jan.  5,  1888. 


TWO  ACTS   OF  RIENZI  61 

of  the  opera  had  discharged  an  assistant  conductor, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  rehearse  and  bring  out  minor  operas 
and  operettas.  On  hearing  this,  Wagner  wrote  to  one 
of  the  regisseurs,  offering  to  do  this  man's  work  for  a 
slight  advance  in  his  salary.  He  recalled  the  circum- 
stance that  Manager  Holtei,  on  securing  him  as  first 
conductor,  had  mentioned  the  previous  engagement  of  an 
assistant  conductor  as  a  reason  why  he  could  not  offer 
him  the  full  salary  of  a  thousand  silver  rubles,  which 
his  predecessor  had  obtained.  The  conclusion  of  this 
letter  is  one  of  those  mixtures  of  pathos,  irony,  self- 
confidence,  and  humor  so  characteristic  of  Wagner :  — 

"I  offer  to  do  everjthing  I  can  ;  I  am  willing  to  work  for  the 
theatre  day  and  night,  to  undertake  any  responsibility  I  can  carry 
out,  willing  to  orchestrate  whole  operatic  scores ;  but  in  return  for 
this  I  also  wish  to  be  rescued  from  my  present  predicament ;  I  owe 
that  to  myself  and  my  position.   ... 

"  To  sum  up,  briefly  and  concisely,  my  dear  sir,  I  beg  you  to 
remit  entirely  the  advance  made  me  on  my  salary  (excepting  of 
course  the  thirty  rubles  which  I  last  obtained  of  you,  and  five  of 
which  are  to  be  deducted  on  every  pay-day),  and  offer  in  return 
for  this  to  undertake  anything  you  may  wish  to  charge  me  with, 
excepting  boot-blacking  and  water-carrying,  tohich  latter  my  chest 
could  not  endure  at  present ;  but  I  loould  even  copy  music  did  I  not 
fear  from  such  a  melancholy  occupation  a  despondent  turn  of  my 
temperament. 

"The  opportunity  to  help  me  is  present,  and  I  am  convinced 
you  will  seize  on  it  joyfully,  were  it  only  in  order  that  posterity 
might  some  day  be  able  to  say  of  you,  '  He  was  the  man  who,' 

^^^- '  ^^^'  "  Your  most  devoted 

"Richard  Wagner." 

What  result,  if  any,  this  letter  may  have  had,  is  not 
known.     Shortly  thereafter  Holtei  gave  up  the  director- 


62  KONIGSBERG  AND  RIGA 

ship  of  the  Eiga  theatre,  and  his  successor,  a  tenor 
named  Hoffmann,  apparently  had  no  use  for  Wagner, 
whose  pecuniary  embarrassments  had,  moreover,  reached 
a  stage  which  made  life  in  Riga  unbearable.  For  two 
years  he  had  been  cherisliing  a  plan  to  go  to  Paris,  which 
was  then  reputed  the  musical  centre  of  the  world,  to  seek 
his  fortune  there  with  his  operas.  This  plan  he  was  now 
ready  to  carry  out.  But  when  he  tried  to  leave  Riga  he 
found  that  this  was  not  so  easy  as  he  had  fancied.  His 
creditors  had  invoked  the  courts  for  assistance  in  collect- 
ing their  dues,  and  when  he  applied  for  a  pass  he  was 
informed  that  he  could  have  one  as  soon  as  he  brought 
proofs  that  his  debts  had  been  paid. 

A   ROMANTIC   EPISODE 

Wagner's  trip  from  Riga  to  Pillau  and  thence  by  sail- 
ing-vessel to  England  has  always  been  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  most  interesting  events  in  his  life ;  but  there 
is  more  romance  in  it  than  previous  biographers  have 
revealed.^  When  Wagner  realized  that  he  could  not 
leave  Riga  openly,  he  resolved  to  do  so  secretly.  To  him 
it  seemed  as  absurd  then  as  it  does  to  us  now  that  he 
should  be  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  grand  operatic 
plans  by  a  handful  of  debts.  His  wife  was  initiated 
into  the  secret  plot,  and  one  day  she  disguised  herself  as 
the  wife  of  a  lumberman  and  was  taken  by  him  as  such 
across  the  Russian  boundary  into  Germany.  Wagner 
soon  followed,  assisted,  it  seems,  by  his  theatrical  friends, 
who  advanced  him  a  few  months'  salary  to  enable  him  to 

1  The  documents  on  which  the  following  narrative  is  hased  are  the 
articles  in  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung,  above  referred  to,  and  .Dorn's 
Ergehnisse  aus  Erlehnissen  (1877,  pp.  161-165). 


A   ROMANTIC  EPISODE  63 

escape  his  importunate  creditors.  He  disguised  himself 
as  well  as  he  could,  but  at  that  time  it  was  not  easy  to 
pass  the  Eussian  boundary.  "The  boundary  line,"  says 
Dorn,  "was  almost  hermetically  closed;  every  thousand 
yards  there  was  a  sentry  box,  in  which  a  Cossack  held 
guard,  if  he  did  not  happen  to  be  inspecting  his  territory ; 
besides  this,  there  was  a  patrol  of  pickets  to  watch  the 
giuirds  themselves."  A  Konigsberg  friend  of  Wagner's, 
Abraham  Moller,  had  made  careful  prej^arations  to  facili- 
tate his  flight.  He  had  found  means  to  secure  one  of  the 
sentry  boxes  as  a  refuge  for  him  while  its  owner  was 
on  his  tour  of  inspection ;  and  a  way  was  also  found  of 
keeping  the  pickets  out  of  sight  for  the  time  being.  Four 
days  later  Wagner  was  safely  looking,  from  his  window 
in  the  Arnau  tavern,  on  Konigsberg,  one  mile  away; 
but  fear  of  meeting  any  of  his  creditors  there  kept  him 
from  entering  that  city.  After  a  brief  rest,  his  friend 
Moller  saw  him  safely  to  the  seaport  of  Pillau,  where 
he  met  his  wife  and  dog,  and  together  they  embarked  on 
a  small  and  frail  vessel  for  Paris  and  the  Grand  Opera, 
via  London. 

It  was  a  bold,  almost  reckless,  undertaking  for  an 
impecunious  artist  to  leave  his  native  country,  where  at 
least  lie  was  sure  of  his  daily  bread,  and  plunge  into  the 
terrible  wilderness  of  an  unknown  city.  What  others 
thought  of  Wagner's  expedition  may  be  inferred  from 
this  passage  in  Strodtmann's  Life  of  the  poet  Heine :  — 

"  Laube,  who  had  been  introduced  by  Heine  to  all  French  authors 
of  repute  and  talent,  made  him  in  turn  acquainted  with  Kichard 
Wagner,  who  had  carried  out  the  bold  plan  of  going,  as  an  un- 
known musician,  witli  a  wife,  an  opera  and  a  half,  a  small  purse, 
and  a  terribly  large  and  terribly  voracious  Newfoundland  dog,  from 


64  KONIGSBERG  AND  RIGA 

Eiga  to  London  on  a  sailing-vessel, 'and  from  London  to  Paris,  in 
the  hope  of  winning  there  gold  and  fame  :  in  Paris,  where  half 
Europe  competes  noisily  for  notoriety,  where  everything  must  be 
sold  and  certainly  paid  for,  however  meritorious  it  be,  if  it  expects 
to  get  into  the  market  and  obtain  recognition.  Heine  folded  his 
hands  devoutly  at  this  confidence  of  a  German  artist.  And  Wag- 
ner was  to  find  out  soon  enough  how  little  chance  he  had,  notwith- 
standing Meyerbeer's  warm  recommendations,  to  bring  out  one  of 
his  operas  in  Paris." 


FIRST   VISIT  TO   PARIS 

A   STORSIY   SEA-VOYAGE 

Wagner  himself  was  too  sanguine  to  feel  any  doubts 
as  to  his  expedition.  He  felt  capable  of  producing  great 
thinars  and  therefore  believed  that  all  he  needed  to  do 
was  to  go  to  a  city  where  great  things  were  appreciated 
to  be  welcomed  immediately.  So  he  went  on  board  the 
sailing-vessel  Avith  a  light  heart,  "  a  wife,  a  small  purse, 
and  an  enormous  Newfoundland  dog."  This  trip  is  inter- 
esting, not  only  as  a  biographic  event,  but  because  it 
proved  of  the  greatest  artistic  value  to  Wagner  by  pro- 
viding him  with  the  "  local  color "  for  both  the  poetry 
and  the  music  of  the  Flying  Dutchman.  Before  leaving 
Riga  he  had  already  become  acquainted  with  this  legend, 
through  Heine's  version  of  it,  and  many  realistic  details 
were  added  by  the  tales  of  the  sailors  and  the  rough 
experiences  of  the  voyage,  concerning  which  he  wrote :  — 

"  This  voyage  will  never  fade  from  my  memory  ;  it  lasted  three 
weeks  and  a  half  and  was  full  of  adventures.  Three  times  we 
were  overtaken  by  violent  storms,  and  once  the  captain  was  com- 
pelled to  seek  safety  in  a  Norwegian  harbor.  The  passage  through 
the  Norwegian  fjords  i  made  a  wondrous  impression  on  my  fancy  ; 

1  Praeger  gives  this  further  detail  regarding  this  journey:  "The 
three  passengers,  Richard  Wagner,  his  wife,  and  dog,  were  miserably 
ill.  On  one  occasion  the  bark  was  driven  into  a  Norwegian  fjord  :  tlie 
crew  and  its  passengers  —  there  were  no  otliers  on  board  beside  the 
Wagner  trio  —  landed  at  a  point  where  an  old  mill  stood.    The  poor 

65 


66  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

the  legend  of  the  flying  Dutchman,  as  I  heard  it  confirmed  by  the 
sailors,  acquired  a  definite,  peculiar  color,  which  only  my  adven- 
tures at  sea  could  have  given  it.  To  recover  from  the  extremely 
fatiguing  trip,  we  remained  a  week  in  London,  where  nothing 
interested  me  so  much  as  the  city  itself  and  the  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, —  of  the  theatres  I  did  not  visit  one." 

Here  he  came  near  losing  one  of  his  few  possessions. 
While  living  at  a  boarding-house  in  Great  Compton 
Street,  Soho,  his  beloved  dog  disappeared  one  day ;  fortu- 
nately he  turned  up  again  two  days  later,  "  to  his  master's 
frantic  joy."^ 

London  was  too  expensive  a  place  for  one  whose  purse 
was  as  lean  as  Wagner's;  so,  after  the  expiration  of  a 
week,  he  took  his  wife  and  his  dog  across  the  Channel  to 
Boulogne.  Now,  this  French  town  was  not  a  cheap 
place  either,  having  been  a  famous  seaside  resort  even 
in  those  days.  But  Wagner  was  not  only  willing  to- 
deplete  his  purse  here  for  another  week,  he  actually 
remained  four  weeks,  and  the  reason  of  this  was  that  the 

wretches,  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  death,  were  hospitably  received 
hy  the  owner,  a  poor  man.  He  produced  his  only  bottle  of  rum  and 
struck  joy  into  all  their  hearts  by  brewing  a  bowl  of  punch.  It  was 
evidently  appreciated  by  the  hapless  ship's  company,  as  Wagner  was 
hilarious  when  he  spoke  of  what  he  humorously  called  his  '  Adventures 
at  the  Champagne  Mill.'  When  tbe  weather  h.ad  cleared  sufficiently, 
the  ship  set  sail  for  London  and  arrived  without  any  further  mishap." 

1  Mr.  Daunreuther,  who  relates  this  incident  (Grove's  Dictionary  of 
Music  and  Musiciaiis,  IV.  p.  350),  adds:  "Wagner's  accurate  memory 
for  localities  was  puzzled  when  he  wandered  about  Soho  with  the  writer 
in  1877  and  failed  to  find  the  old  house.  Mr.  J.  Cyriax,  who  has  zeal- 
ously traced  every  step  of  Wagner's  in  London,  18.3it,  '55,  and  '77,  states 
that  the  premises  have  been  pulled  down."  Details  regarding  Wagner's 
first  sojourn  in  London,  the  loss  of  his  dog  and  his  hardly  less-beloved 
siiuff-'.iox  (which  fell  out  of  his  pocket  when  he  was  boarding  a  ship,  — 
and  lie  almost  fell  in,  too,  in  his  attempt  to  rescue  it),  together  with 
his  impressions  of  London  and  opinions  of  the  English,  may  be  found 
in  Praeger's  book,  Chap.  VII. 


A   STORMY  SEA-VOYAGE  67 

one  man  who  could  best  help  him  along  in  Paris  was 
spending  the  summer  in  Boulogne.  This  man  was  Meyer- 
beer, who  received  him  in  the  most  amiable  manner, 
examined  the  manuscript  of  the  two  acts  of  Rienzi,  and 
promised  to  do  all  he  could  for  him  in  Paris. ^  He  gave 
him  letters  of  introduction  to  the  publisher  Schlesinger, 
who  subsequently  proved  a  useful  friend,  to  the  directors 
of  tlie  Op^ra  and  the  Theatre  de  la  Kenaissance,  and  to 
Habeneck,  conductor  of  the  Conservatory  concerts.  Pro- 
vided with  these,  and  with  an  almost  empty  purse,  but 
full  of  hope,  he  entered  Paris,  "the  illimitable  city  of 
splendor  and  squalor,"  as  he  described  it  in  one  of  his 
newspaper  letters. 

It  was  a  curious  coincidence,  and  seemed  a  good  omen, 
that  he  who  was  destined  to  become  Germany's  greatest 
dramatic  composer  found  lodging  in  a  house  adorned  with 
a  bust  indicating  that  Moliere  was  born  under  that  roof. 
But  if,  as  a  writer  on  Moliere  has  remarked.  Prance's 
own  greatest  dramatist  had  to  complain  of  a  "general 
conspiracy  of  all  authors  against  himself,"  what  right 
had  Wagner,  unknown  and  a  foreigner,  to  expect  better 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Prench?     For  two  years 

1  Praeger  (p.  80)  writes:  "Indeed,  Meyerbeer  expressed  himself  so 
strongly  on  the  libretto  as  to  request  Scribe  to  write  one  for  him  in 
imitation  of  it.  When  talking  over  this  incident  with  me,  Wagner  said 
that  he  believed  Meyerbeer's  lavish  praise  of  the  book  was  uttered 
partly  with  a  view  to  its  purchase,  but  that  Wagner's  enthusiasm  for 
his  own  work  prevented  Meyerbeer  from  making  a  direct  offer.  .  .  . 
Wagner  saiil  he  believed  Meyerljeer's  laudation  of  the  music  was  per- 
fectly sincere ;  '  for,'  he  cynically  added,  '  the  first  two  acts  are  just  the 
very  part  of  the  opera  which  please  me  least,  and  which  I  should  like 
todisowii.'  "  The  resultof  Meyerbeer's  encouraging  criticisms  was  that 
Wagner  took  Minna  to  a  restaurant  and  ordered  his  favorite  beverage, 
champagne,  althou.i;h  he  could  afford  only  a  pint  bottle.  "To  Wag- 
ner," says  Praeger,  "champagne  represented  the  perfection  of  '  terres- 
trial enjoyment,'  as  he  often  phrased  it." 


68  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

and  a  half  —  from  September,  1839,  to  April,  1842  —  he 
lived  in  Paris,  and  these  three  winters  and  two  summers 
in  the  French  capital  may  be  described  as  a  period  of 
poverty,  hopeless  struggle  for  fame,  and  an  almost  unin- 
terrupted series  of  disappointments.  Let  us  briefly  con- 
sider these  disappointments,  numbering  them  so  as  to 
get  their  cumulative  impression  on  their  victim. 

A    SERIES   OF   DISAPPOINTMENTS 

First  Disappointment.  —  The  letter  of  recommendation 
to  Habeneck,  which  Meyerbeer  had  given  Wagner,  had 
the  good  result  of  giving  him  free  access  to  all  the  rehear- 
sals of  the  famous  Conservatoire  orchestra.  Here  he 
heard  Beethoven's  Ninth  Symphony  once  more,  and  under 
the  inspiration  of  it  he  wrote  his  Faust  overture,  of  which 
more  will  be  said  in  a  later  chapter.  A  further  stimulus 
was  given  him  by  the  efforts  of  Schlesinger  to  secure  a 
performance  of  this  overture  at  the  Conservatory  concerts 
and  Habeneck' s  apparent  consent.  An  item  actually 
appeared  in  Schlesinger 's  paper,  the  Gazette  Musicale, 
stating  that  "  an  overture  by  a  remarkably  talented  young 
German  composer,  M.  Wagner,  has  just  been  rehearsed 
by  the  Conservatory  orchestra,  and  received  with  general 
applause.  We  hope  soon  to  hear  this  work,  and  to  give 
an  account  of  it."  The  truth,  however,  was  that  the 
directors  had  declared  the  overture  "  a  long  enigma  "  and 
decided  not  to  play  it.^  It  is  true,  the  same  impression 
had  been  made  at  first  on  Habeneck  and  his  musicians 
by  the  very  symphony  of  Beethoven's,  the  clear  and  fin- 
ished  performance  of  which  Wagner   now  admired   so 

1  A.  Jullien,  if.  Wagner :  Sa  Vie  et  ses  CEuvres,  p.  28. 


A   SERIES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENTS  69 

much.  But  Habeneck  had  kept  on  rehearsing  it  during 
a  second  and  a  third  winter,  until  every  detail  was  intel- 
ligible. It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  the  same  method 
might  have  the  same  results  with  Wagner's  overture,  for 
musicians  never  learn  by  experience.  So  Wagner  had  to 
suffer  the  pangs  not  only  of  a  refusal  after  trial,  but  of 
disappointed  hopes  based  on  the  possible  consequences 
of  a  successful  debut  at  a  concert  of  the  leading  institu- 
tion in  Paris.  ^ 

The  Second  Disappointment  was  the  failure  of  the 
Renaissance  theatre,  just  on  the  eve  of  the  performance 
of  the  Novice  of  Palermo,  as  related  in  a  previous  chapter. 
Wagner  had  already  lost  his  artistic  interest  in  this  trivial 
work,  but  its  performance  would  perhaps  have  paved  his 
way  to  the  Grand  Opera,  and  it  would  also  have  flattered 
his  vanity  to  have  the  news  go  across  the  Rhine  that  an 
opera  of  his  which  had  failed  at  a  German  provincial 
theatre  had  proved  a  success  in  the  musical  centre  of  the 
world.  But  he  was  not  fated  to  have  his  vanity  flattered 
in  any  such  way  at  Paris. 

Tliird  Disapjyointment. —  Another  opportunity  to  appear 
before  the  public  as  a  composer  was  apparently  given  by 
the  performance  of  a  play  by  Dumas,  arranged  as  an  opera 
by  riotow  in  behalf  of  Polish  fugitives  in  Paris.  It 
occurred  to  Wagner  that  his  overture  Polonia  might  make 

1  JuUien  (I.e.  pp.  27,  28)  makes  the  curious  error  of  stating  that 
WaKuer  intended  to  write  an  opera  based  on  Goethe's  Faust,  and 
consequently  holds  the  short-sit^hted  Conservatory  authorities  responsi- 
ble for  the  loss  of  such  an  opera  to  the  world  by  discouraging  it  at  the 
beginning.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  made  clear  by  Wagner  in  the 
fourth  volume  of  his  Ocsammelte  Schriften  (p.  322),  where  he  speaks 
of  "the  rapid  conception  and  equally  rapid  execution  of  an  orchestral 
piece  which  I  called  an  overture  to  Goethe's  Faust,  but  which  in  reality 
was  to  form  the  first  movement  of  a  grand  Faust  symphony." 


70  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

an  acceptable  and  appropriate  addition  to  the  programme, 
so  lie  took  his  only  copy  of  the  score  —  he  was  very  care- 
less about  his  manuscripts  in  those  days  —  to  the  leader 
of  the  orchestra  at  the  Kenaissance,  M.  Duvinage,  who 
promised  to  examine  it,  but  did  not  produce  it.  Wagner 
left  Paris  without  calling  for  his  score,  and  he  never 
heard  of  it  again  until  forty  years  later,  when,  after  a 
series  of  romantic  escapes  from  paper-baskets,  it  got  into 
the  hands  of  the  conductor  Pasdeloup,  and  thus  back  to 
Wagner,  who  had  it  performed  in  Palermo  on  his  wife's 
birthday,  two  years  before  his  death.  ^  Hdbent  sua  fata 
Uhella! 

Fourth  Disappointment. —  Another  way  in  which  Wag- 
ner tried  to  get  before  the  public  and  earn  bread  and 
butter  for  his  family  —  reduced  by  the  loss  of  the  dog, 
who  had  been  stolen,  to  his  owner's  great  grief  —  was  by 
composing  romances  to  French  words,  in  the  hope  that 
they  would  be  sung  in  the  salons,  and  there  perhaps 
attract  the  attention  of  some  manager,  who  might,  in 
consequence,  order  an  opera  of  their  author.  Flimsy 
castles  in  the  air!  That  no  one  wanted  his  music  to 
Heine's  Tioo  Grenadiers  is  not  so  surprising,  for  it  is  not 
one  of  his  better  efforts ;  but  that  his  charming  settings 
of  Victor  Hugo's  IJAttente,  Ronsard's  Mignonne,  and  the 
cradle  song  Dors,  mon  Enfant,  should  have  found  neither 
singer  to  introduce  them,  nor  publisher  to  print  them,  is 
strange  —  or  rather  is  not  strange,  considering  Parisian 
taste  of  that  tiine.  As  a  last  resort,  Wagner  offered  them 
to  the  editor  Lewald  for  his  periodical  Europa  (in  which 
the    three    last-named   pieces    subsequently    appeared), 

1  The  interesting  details  of  this  story  will  be  found  in  Jullien  (pp. 
28,  29). 


A   SERIES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENTS  71 

accompanying  his  offer  with  the  following  comments, 
which  throw  a  lurid  liglit  on  his  situation :  — 

"I  take  the  liberty  to  send  you  three  songs  for  Europa.  You 
write  that,  on  demand,  you  will  pay  from  five  to  nine  florins  for  a 
piece  [§2.50  to  $4].  As  life  in  Paris  is  uncommonly  expensive,  I 
hope  you  will  kindly  consent  to  allow  me  the  maximum,  —  per- 
haps you  may  even  agree  to  add  a  florin  in  view  of  the  extremely 
elegant  copy."  He  goes  on  to  beg  that  the  pieces  may  be  printed 
soon,  as  he  needs  the  money  :  "  Only  a  rogue  would  pretend  to  be 
what  he  is  not :  to  such  straits  have  they  reduced  me  here." 

A  still  deeper  and  more  pathetic  insight  into  his 
unfortunate  situation  is  given  by  some  jottings  made  in 
his  diary  at  this  time.^  Thus  he  writes,  under  date  of 
June  23,  1840 :  — 

"  In  these  dark  days  I'am  beginning  to  feel  more  and  more  deeply 
the  necessity  of  keeping  a  regular  diary.  I  hope  that  the  writing 
dovyn  of  my  prevailing  moods,  and  the  reflections  springing  from 
them,  will  afford  me  relief,  as  tears  do  to  a  heart  oppressed.  Tears 
have  come  into  my  eyes  unbidden  this  moment ;  is  it  a  proof  of 
cowardice  or  of  unhappiness  to  yield  willingly  to  tears?  A  young 
German  journeyman  was  here ;  he  was  in  poor  health,  and  I  bade 
him  come  again  for  his  breakfast.  Minna  took  the  occasion  to 
remind  me  that  she  was  about  to  send  away  our  last  pennies  for 
bread.  You  poor  woman  !  Right  you  are  ;  our  situation  is  a  sad 
one,  and  if  I  reflect  on  it,  I  can  foresee  with  certainty  that  the  great- 
est conceivable  misery  is  in  store  for  us ;  an  accident  only  can 
bring  improvement ;  for  an  accident  I  must  almost  consider  the 
contingency  of  being  helped  by  others  voluntarily  and  without  any 
personal  interest ;  this  last  hope  would  be  humiliating  if  I  were 
convinced  that  I  could  expect  nothing  but  alms  ;  fortunately  I  am 
compelled  to  assume  that  men  like  Meyerbeer  and  Laube  would 
not  lielp  me  unless  they  believed  that  I  deserved  help.  Weakness, 
caprice,  and  accident  may,  however,  still  intervene  and  estrange 

1  Priiited  iu  IJer  ZeiU/eist,  Nus.  18-20,  188C. 


72  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

these  persons  from  me.  That  is  a  terrible  thought ;  and  this  doubt 
and  the  uncertainty  regarding  their  good  will  is  painful  and 
sickens  my  heart." 

On  June  29  we  find  this  entry  in  the  diary :  — 

"  How  this  is  to  come  out  next  month  I  do  not  know ;  my 
fears  are  turning  to  despair.  I  have  now  indeed  an  opportunity  to 
earn  a  trifle  by  writing  articles  for  the  Gazette  Musicale ;  I  shall 
also  send  articles  to  Lewald  in  Stuttgart  for  Europa,  to  see  if  I 
can  make  some  money  that  way.  Yet  in  the  most  favorable  case 
I  cannot  avoid  being  crushed  by  what  is  impending  at  this  moment. 
Twenty-five  fi-ancs  is  all  I  have  left.  With  this  I  am  expected  to 
pay  on  the  first  a  bill  of  exchange  for  150  francs,  and  on  the 
fifteenth  my  quarterly  rent  is  due.  All  fountains  are  dry.  From 
my  poor  wife  I  am  still  concealing  the  pass  at  which  we  have 
arrived ;  I  constantly  hoped  Laube  would  send  something ;  I 
would  then  have  told  her  how,  without  him,  we  could  have  had 
nothing  to  count  upon,  and  how  I  had  kept  it  secret  from  her,  so 
as  not  to  add  to  the  cares  which  have  already  shaken  her  constitu- 
tion. But  now  I  fear  this  will  be  impossible.  On  the  first  I  shall 
have  to  reveal  the  secret.  The  Lord  help  us  !  that  will  be  a  terrible 
day,  unless  assistance  arrives." 

Praeger  relates  (85)  that  — 

' '  after  one  more  wretched  day  than  the  last,  he  suggested  to 
Minna  the  raising  of  temporary  loans  upon  her  trinkets.  Let  the 
reader  try  and  realize  the  proud  Wagner's  misery  and  anguish 
when  Minna  confessed  that  such  as  she  had  were  already  so  dis- 
posed of.  .  .  .  It  was  then,  in  this  hour  of  tribulation,  that  the 
golden  qualities  of  Minna  were  proved.  .  .  .  The  hitherto  quiet 
and  gentle  housewife  was  transformed  into  a  heroine.  .  .  . 
Thoughts  of  what  the  self-denying  devoted  little  woman  did  then 
have  many  a  time  brought  tears  to  Wagner's  eyes.  The  most 
menial  house  duties  were  performed  by  her  with  willing  cheerful- 
ness. She  cleaned  the  house,  stood  at  the  wash-tub,  did  the 
mending  and  the  cooking.  She  hid  from  her  husband  as  much  of 
the  discomforts  attaching  to  their  poor  home  as  was  possible.    She 


A   SERIES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENTS  73 

never  complained,  and  always  strove  to  present  a  bright,  cheerful 
face,  consoling  and  upholding  him  at  all  times.  In  the  evening 
she  and  his  dog,  the  same  that  was  temporarily  lost  in  London, 
were  his  regular  companions  on  the  boulevards." 

Fijlh  Disappointment. — Temporary  assistance  may  have 
arrived,  for  Wagner  writes  elsewhere  that  he  did  not 
know  till  he  came  to  Paris  the  full  meaning  of  the  word 
"friendship,"  but  his  efforts  to  help  himself  by  keeping 
in  his  proper  sphere  as  composer  continued  to  be  failures. 
Humbled  by  his  ill  luck,  and  urged  on  by  the  pressure  of 
debts,  he  actually  undertook  the  task  of  writing  the 
music  of  an  ordinary  carnival  vaudeville :  "  but  in  this, 
too,  I  was  frustrated,"  he  writes,  "by  the  jealousy  of  a 
musical  money-maker  " ;  and  JuUien  records  that  "  at  the 
first  rehearsals  the  actors  declared  that  his  music  could 
not  be  executed,  so  it  had  to  be  given  up." 

Sixth  Disajypointmeyit.  —  As  a  composer  he  could  not 
descend  any  lower  than  this ;  and  as  he  had  never  acquired 
mechanical  dexterity  on  an  instrument,  he  could  not  apply 
for  a  place  in  an  orchestra.  But  he  had  a  voice,  and  the 
thought  occurred  to, him  that  he  might  perhaps  get  a 
place  as  chorus  singer  in  a  small  Boulevard  theatre.  "  I 
came  out  of  this,"  he  Avrites,  "worse  than  Berlioz  did 
when  he  found  himself  in  a  similar  predicament.  The 
leader  of  the  orchestra,  who  had  to  examine  me,  discov- 
ered at  once  that  I  could  not  sing  at  all,  and  that  he  had 
no  use  for  me." 

The  fact  of  the  future  composer  of  the  Nibelung  Trilogy 
and  Parsifal  being  found  unfit  to  sing  in  the  chorus  of  a 
second-rate  Boulevard  theatre  is  perhaps  as  comic  as  any 
incident  in  the  whole  history  of  music.  But  it  has  its 
pathetic  side  in  showing  to  what  extremities  a  series  of 


74  FIRST   VISIT   TO   PARIS 

disap25ointments  had  reduced  a  man  of  geniiis  at  the  time 
when  he  was  already  capable  of  writing  such  an  inspired 
opera  as  the  Flying  Dutchman,  and  the  no  less  remarkable 
literary  sketches,  essays,  and  criticisms,  to  which  refer- 
ence will  presently  be  made. 

Seventh  Disojipointmeiit.  —  When  Wagner  left  Riga  for 
Paris  with  two  acts  of  Rienzi  in  his  trunk,  he  doubtless 
had  sanguine  visions  of  soon  seeing  this  opera  in  the 
gorgeous  scenic  attire  which  the  Paris  Opera  alone  at  that 
time  could  have  afforded  to  give  it,  and  sung  by  the  fore- 
most European  artists.     Having  arrived  in  Paris, — 

"I  at  first  put  my  half-finished  Rienzi  aside,"  he  writes  (IV. 
321),  "and  endeavored  in  every  way  to  make  acquaintances  in 
the  world-city.  For  this,  however,  I  lacked  the  requisite  personal 
qualities  :  of  tlie  French  language,  to  which  I  felt  an  instinctive 
aversion,  I  had  ac(juired  only  a  superficial  knowledge  for  every- 
day use.  I  felt  not  the  least  inclination  to  assimilate  the  traits  of 
the  French,  hut  I  flattered  myself  with  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
approach  them  in  my  own  way.  I  credited  music,  the  world-lan- 
guage, with  the  power  of  bridging  an  abyss  between  me  and  the 
Parisians,  as  to  the  existence  of  which  my  feelings  did  not  deceive 
me.  —  When  I  attended  the  brilliant  performances  at  the  Grand 
Opfira,  which  was  not  often  [for  good  reasons],  I  was  overcome  by 
a  voluptuous  feeling  which  formed  in  my  heated  imagination  the 
wish,  the  hope,  yes,  even  the  certainty,  of  being  able  to  triumph 
here  some  day  :  this  external  splendor,  applied  to  the  uses  of  artis- 
tic inspiration,  appeared  to  me  the  culminating  point  of  art,  and  I 
did  not  feel  at  all  incapable  of  reaching  this  point." 

The  discovery  that  it  would  take  years  of  skilful 
manoeuvring  and  intriguing  to  get  Rienzi  performed  at 
the  Grand  Opera  was,  however,  one  of  the  first  of  his 
disappointing  experiences  in  Paris.  He  did  indeed  com- 
plete the  score  during  his  residence  in  that  city,  but  it 


A    SERIES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENTS  75 

was  with  a  view  to  its  performance  in  a  German  theatre. 
A  change  for  the  better  seemed  imminent,  when  IMeyer- 
beer,  who  unfortunately  had  been  absent  from  Paris  most 
of  this  time,  returned.  He  was  the  only  one  of  the  great 
musicians  in  Paris  that  took  an  interest  in  Wagner, 
whose  acquaintance  with  French  composers  and  others  ^ 
led  to  no  tangible  results,  as  they  all  seemed  too  miich 
taken  up  with  their  own  affairs  to  look  after  struggling 
young  composers.  Not  so  Meyerbeer,  who  at  once  in- 
quired after  the  fate  of  his  protege,  and,  finding  him  in 
such  desperate  straits,  took  him  to  Leon  Pillet,  tlie  direc- 
tor of  the  Grand  Opera,  with  a  view  of  securing  for  him 
an  order  to  compose  a  short  opera  in  two  or  three  acts. 
The  subject  was  already  at  hand,  namely,  the  story  of  the 
Flying  Dutchman,  which  had  haunted  Wagner  ever  since 
his  sea-voyage.  He  made  an  arrangement  with  Heine 
for  the  use  of  those  features  in  the  story  which  were 
added  by  him,  and  having  made  a  sketch  of  the  plot,  he 
handed  it  to  Leon  Pillet  with  the  request  to  have  it 
worked  up  into  a  libretto  in  French  verse. 

1  Among  Wagner's  famous  acquaintances  in  Paris  were  Berlioz, 
Hale'vy,  Scribe,  Vieuxtemps,  and  tlie  Germans  Kietz,  Laul)e,  and  Heine. 
Auber  he  appears  not  to  have  met  on  this  first  visit,  although  he  ad- 
mired his  operas,  and  on  one  occasion  came  near  losing  his  only  source 
of  income  by  writing  an  article  for  the  Gazette  ifiisiatle,  extolling 
Auber  and  chiding  the  French  for  their  partiality  to  Donizetti  and  Ros- 
sini. The  editor  refused  to  pul)lish  tliis  article  against  the  idols  of  the 
day,  and  told  Wagner  to  "leave  i)olitics(!)  alone."  It  would  have 
been  interesting  to  know  Heine's  opinion  of  Wagner,  but  he  had  no 
opportunity  to  hear  his  music.  Theodore  Hagen  relates  that  Heine 
once  said  to  him,  "Do  you  know  what  I  find  suspicious  about  Wagner? 
Tlie  fact  tliat  Meyerlieer  recommends  him."  To  Laubc,  Heine  once 
remarked:  "I  cannot  help  feeling  a  lively  interest  in  Wagner.  He  is 
endowed  with  an  inexhaustible,  productive  mind,  kept  in  constant 
activity  by  a  lively  temperament.  From  an  individuality  so  replete 
with  modern  culture  we  may  expect  the  development  of  a  solid  and 
powerful  modern  music." 


76  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

So  far  matters  had  progressed  when  Meyerbeer  once 
more  left  Paris.  Not  long  thereafter  Wagner  was  as- 
tounded to  hear  from  M.  Pillet  that  he  liked  his  sketch 
and  wished  him  to  let  him  have  it  for  another  composer 
to  whom  he  had  promised  a  libretto  some  time  before ! 
The  director  added  that  Wagner  would  no  doubt  be  the 
more  willing  to  agree  to  this  arrangement  as  he  could 
give  him  no  hope  of  bringing  out  his  own  opera  before 
the  expiration  of  four  years,  and  in  the  meantime  he  could 
easily  find  another  subject  for  it !  Wagner  was  naturally 
indignant  at  this  offer  and  refused  to  accept  it,  hoping 
for  the  return  of  Meyerbeer  to  set  matters  right  again. 

In  the  spring  he  left  the  city  to  live  at  Meudon,  and 
there  he  heard  one  day  that  M.  Pillet  had  actually  gone 
so  far,  without  his  consent,  as  to  give  his  Flying  Dutch- 
man sketch  into  the  hands  of  the  poet  Paul  Pouch^,  to 
be  made  into  a  libretto  for  that  "other  composer,"  wlio 
proved  to  be  a  man  named  Dietsch.  Fearing  that,  under 
some  pretext  or  other,  he  might  lose  his  rights  to  his 
sketch  altogether,  Wagner  at  last  agreed  to  sell  it  for  five 
hundred  francs.  He  had  his  revenge,  however;  for  the 
Vaisseau  Fantdme,  in  a  version  differing  greatly  from  his 
own  plan,  and  with  music  by  Dietsch,  proved  a  failure, 
and  was  shelved  after  eleven  performances.  M.  Dietsch 
was  doubtless  convinced  that  the  cause  of  his  failure  was 
Wagner's  sketch;  and  he,  too,  had  his  "revenge"  eigh- 
teen years  later,  when  he  was  conductor  at  the  Grand 
Opera,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  come  to  the  romantic 
story  of  Tannhmiser  in  Paris. 

Meyerbeer's  efforts  to  help  along  Wagner  were  in  every 
case  so  fruitless  —  and  Meyerbeer  was  a  very  influential 
man  at  that  time  —  that  there  is  some  justification  for 


LOSS  OF  THE  COLUMBUS   OVERTURE  77 

doubt  as  to  whether  he  was  really  sincere  in  his  at- 
tempts to  assist  him.  Mr.  Dannreuther  remarks  on  this 
point :^ — 

"What  did  Meyerbeer  do  by  way  of  patronage?  He  wrote  a 
letter  introducing  Wagner  to  M.  Fillet,  fully  aware  that  there  was 
not  a  ghost  of  a  chance  for  an  unknown  German  at  the  OpSra. 
To  foist  Wagner,  with  his  Liebesverbot,  upon  Antenor  Joly  and  the 
Theatre  de  la  Renaissance  was,  in  the  eyes  of  Parisians,  little  bet- 
ter than  a  practical  joke  ;  twice  or  thrice  in  the  year  that  rotten 
concern  had  failed  and  risen  again :  '  mon  theatre  est  mort,  vive 
mon  theatre,'  was  M.  Joly's  motto.  Meyerbeer  introduced  Wag- 
ner to  his  publisher,  Schlesinger.  And  this  is  all  that  came  to  pass 
at  Paris  —  unless  the  fact  be  taken  into  account  that  Scribe  imi- 
tated an  important  scene  from  Bienzi  in  Le  Frophete  without 
acknowledgment. ' ' 

LOSS  OF  THE  COLUMBUS  OVERTURE 

The  letter  of  introduction  to  Schlesinger,  on  the  other 
hand,  proved  of  the  greatest  utility  to  Wagner,  wlio 
might  have  literally  starved  while  composing  his  first  two 
great  operas  —  Rienzi  and  the  Flying  Ihitchman  —  had  it 
not  been  for  the  employment  given  him  by  the  publisher 
Schlesinger  in  the  arrangement  of  music  for  various  in- 
struments and  in  writing  articles  for  his  musical  paper. 
Schlesinger  was  even  the  means  of  bringing  about  Wag- 
ner's one  opportunity  of  appearing  as  a  composer  before 
a  Parisian  audience.  At  a  concert  given  for  the  subscri- 
bers to  his  paper,  the  Gazette  Musicale,  he  placed  at  the 
liead  of  the  programme  the  Columbus  overture,  which 
Wagner  had  written  at  the  age  of  twenty -two, —  a  piece 
of  which  Laube  has  remarked  tliat  it  showed  its  composer 
undecided  as  to  whether  he  should  follow  Beethoven  oi- 

1  Grove's  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musiciant,  Vol.  IV.  p.  358. 


78  FIRST   VISIT  TO   PARIS 

Bellini,  and  which  accordingly  made  an  impression  some- 
what like  a  Hegelian  essay  written  in  the  style  of  Heine. 
A  French  critic,  Henri  Blanchard,  discussing  its  perfor- 
mance in  Paris,  put  the  question  whether  Wagner  in- 
tended to  represent  the  infinity  of  the  ocean,  the  horizon 
that  seemed  endless  to  the  companions  of  Columbus,  by 
means  of  the  tremolos  on  the  high  notes  of  the  violins. 
He  found  that  the  brass  was  used  too  frequently,  yet  the 
overture  seemed  to  be  "the  work  of  an  artist  having 
grand,  definite  ideas  and  well  acquainted  with  the  re- 
sources of  modern  instrumentation." 

This  performance  also  was  the  occasion  of  Wagner's 
being  once  more,  after  a  long  interval,  brought  to  the 
notice  of  his  countrymen.  The  Leipzig  Neue  Zeitschrift 
fur  Musik,  edited  by  Schumann,  had  this  notice :  — 

"At  the  ninth  concert  which  Herr  Schlesinger  gave  to  his  sub- 
scribers, on  Feb.  4,  there  was  performed,  among  other  things,  an 
overture  by  Richard  Wagner,  a  Saxon,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  who 
seemed  to  have  disappeared  from  the  musical  world,  but  who,  we 
are  glad  to  see,  is  showing  himself  active  again." 

In  short,  the  reception  of  this  overture  was  sufficiently 
favorable  to  prompt  its  author  to  send  it  to  Jullien  in 
London  with  a  request  to  have  it  performed  at  a  prome- 
nade concert.  Jullien,  however,  returned  the  manuscript, 
and  when  it  was  brought  back,  Wagner  had  not  money 
enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  transportation  from  London  to 
Paris.  The  package  consequently  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  company,  and  was  probably  sold  as  waste-paper. 
At  least,  all  the  later  efforts  of  Wagner's  friends  to  trace 
it  proved  futile.^ 

1  These  details  were  given  by  Wagner  himself  to  a  friend  of  JuUien's 
who  first  recorded  them.  A  few  further  details  are  given  by  Praeger, 
p.  03. 


MUSICAL  DRUDGERY  79 

Thus,  even  the  one  apparent  exception  to  Wagner's 
Parisian  disappointments  proved  a  misfortune  in  the  end; 
for  although  the  Columbus  overture,  which  represents 
the  great  navigator  previously  to  the  discovery  of  America 
and  at  the  moment  when  land  was  first  espied,  was  not 
one  of  his  most  valuable  compositions,  it  would  have 
been  of  extreme  interest  as  a  curiosity,  especially  during 
the  Columbus  Centennial  celebrations. 

jrUSICAL   DEUDGERY 

The  employment  which  Schlesinger  gave  Wagner  — 
proof-reading  and  arranging  popular  melodies  and  operas 
for  the  piano  and  other  instruments,  including  even  the 
vulgar  cornet-a-piston.  —  was  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of  the 
ambitious  young  genius  who  longed  to  give  all  his  time 
to  creative  work;  but  under  the  circumstances  it  was  a 
godsend,  without  which  he  would  have  been  crushed  by 
his  poverty,  which  gradually  became  so  oppressive  that, 
as  he  wrote  to  Liszt  some  years  later,  he  was  sometimes 
tempted  by  his  em2:)ty  stomach  to  commit  a  crime. 
Among  the  arrangements  made  at  this  time,  one  deserves 
to  be  mentioned  in  full,  because  it  places  in  curious  jux- 
taposition the  creator  of  the  music-drama  with  the  chief 
perpetrator  of  the  now  almost  obsolete  prima-donna 
operas:  "ia  Favorite,  opera  in  four  acts  by  Scribe, 
German  version  by  A.  Wagner.  Music  by  G.  Donizetti. 
Complete  pianoforte  score  with  German  and  French  text, 
by  Kichard  Wagner.     Berlin:  Schlesinger." 

A  few  years  previously,  the  arrangement  of  this  kind 
of  music  would  have  been  less  irksome  to  the  future  com- 
poser of  Parsifal  —  in  1S;3.5,  for  instance,  when  he  wrote 


80  FIRST  VISIT  TO  PARIS 

an  article  on  Bellini  entitled  "  A  Word  in  Time  "  ^  in 
whicli  lie  lauded  Bellini  and  vocal  melodj'-  at  the  expense 
of  German  opera-composers,  and  expressed  sentiments 
directly  opposed  to  those  which  his  more  mature  judg- 
ment began  to  approve  about  this  time.  The  final  impulse 
which  induced  him  to  retrace  his  "  Step  Backward  "  from 
Beethoven  to  Bellini  was  his  observation  of  the  methods 
of  famous  Italian  singers  at  the  Grand  Opera.  Here  he 
could  see  plainly  that  operas  were  popular  in  proportion 
as  they  gave  the  singers  opportunities  for  brilliant  dis- 
plays of  technical  skill,  while  singers  were  popular  in 
proportion  to  their  lack  of  conscience  in  tickling  the 
public's  ears  with  these  meaningless  feats  of  virtuosity, 
regardless  of  dramatic  truth.  The  singer  was  everything: 
the  composer  and  his  work  nothing.  His  Parisian  cor- 
respondence to  German  papers  is  full  of  sarcastic  refer- 
ences to  this  class  of  singers  —  and  hearers ;  and  in  one 
of  the  essays  included  in  his  Gesammelte  Sdiriften  (Vol. 
I.  pp.  207-222)  entitled  ''  the  Virtuoso  and  the  Artist " 
he  gives  a  most  amusing  account  of  a  performance  at  the 
Opera  of  Mozart's  Don  Juan,  a  work  which  obviously 
discommoded  the  singers  and  bored  the  audience.  Yet 
the  house  was  crowded,  and  every  one  seemed  on  the  tip- 
toe of  expectation:  and  why?  Because  on  this  evening 
Mubini  sang  his  famous  trill  on  A  and  B. 

"  Rubini  did  not  become  truly  divine  until  he  got  on  to  his  B  ; 
that  he  had  to  get  onto  if  an  evening  at  the  Italian  opera  was  to 
have  any  object.  Now,  just  as  a  circus-tumbler  balances  himself  on 
his  board  before  he  jumps,  so  Rubini  stands  on  his  F  for  three  bars, 
swells  it  for  two  bars  cautiously  but  irresistibly,  but  on  the  third 

1  In  the  Rigaer  Zuschauer.  Reprinted  in  Kiirschner's  Wagner 
Jahrbuch,  1886.  p.  381. 


STOBIES  AND  ESSAYS  81 

bar  he  seizes  the  trill  of  the  violins  on  the  A,  sings  it  with  increas- 
ing vehemence,  jumps  up,  on  the  fourth,  to  the  B,  as  if  it  were  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world,  and  then,  before  everybody's  eyes, 
executes  a  brilliant  roulade  and  plunges  down  into  silence.  That 
was  the  end  ;  anything  else  might  happen  now,  no  matter  what. 
All  the  demons  were  unchained,  not  on  the  stage,  as  at  the  end  of 
the  opera,  but  in  the  auditorium.  The  riddle  was  solved  :  it  was 
to  hear  this  feat  that  the  audience  had  assembled,  had,  for  two 
hours,  put  up  with  the  absence  of  all  the  accustomed  operatic 
delicatessen,  had  pardoned  Grisi  and  Lablache  for  taking  this  music 
seriously,  and  were  now  divinely  rewarded  by  the  success  of  this 
one  wonderful  moment  when  Rubini  jumped  up  onto  his  B." 

STOKIES   AND    ESSAYS 

This  essay,  in  which  Wagner  shows  so  vividly  how  the 
opera  in  Paris  had  sunk  to  the  level  of  the  circus, — 
appealing  to  the  sense  of  astonishment  at  feats  of  mechan- 
ical skill  instead  of  to  the  aesthetic  and  dramatic  sense, 
—  is  by  no  means  his  only  literary  effort  of  this  period 
which  proves  that  Laube  Avas  quite  right  when  he  wrote 
in  1843,  by  way  of  prefacing  the  publication  of  Wagner's 
Aiitobiographic  Sketch,  that  the  Parisian  experiences  had 
also  made  of  the  musician  an  author  whose  *'  copy  "  could 
not  be  improved  by  "editing."  The  literary  products 
of  these  years  which  Wagner  deemed  good  enough,  in 
1871,  to  reprint  in  his  Collected  Works,  include  two 
novelettes:  A  Pilgrimage  to  Beethoven,  An  End  in  Paris; 
a  dialogue  on  the  nature  of  music,  entitled  A  Hajypy 
Evening;  and  essays  on  Music  in  Germany,  The  Virtuoso 
and  the  Artist,  The  Artist  and  Publicity,  Rossini's  Stab((f 
Mater,  On  the  Overture;  besides  two  essays  on  the  ]icr- 
formauce  of  the  Freischiitz,  one  being  intended  for  French 
readers,  tlie  other  for  Germans,  and  an  Account  of  a  Neiv 
Parisian  Opera,  Halevy's  Reine  de  Chypre. 


82  FIRST  VISIT  TO  PARIS 

Although  these  articles  appeared  in  a  French  paper, 
The  Gazette  Musicale,  Wagner  wrote  them  in  German,  as 
he  did  not  have  the  gift  of  his  friends  Heine  and  Liszt 
of  writing  equally  well  in  these  two  languages.  Of  the 
first  two  on  the  above  list  the  original  German  has  been 
preserved;  the  others  were  re-translated  by  Wagner's 
second  wife,  Cosima,  daughter  of  Liszt.  The  articles  on 
musical  life  in  Paris  which  he  wrote  for  several  German 
papers  —  the  Dresdener  Abendzeitung,  Lewald's  Europa, 
and  Schumann's  Neue  Zeitsclirift  (which  printed  the 
amusing  article  on  Rossini's  Stabat  Mater),  —  were  ex- 
cluded by  him  from  the  Gesammelte  Schriften.^ 

TRUTH   IN   FICTION. —  PERSONAL   REVELATIONS 

If  Goethe  gave  his  autobiography  the  title  of  Truth 
and  Fiction,  Wagner  conversely  might  have  called  his 
Paris  sketches  Autobiographic  Novelettes  and  Essays ;  for 
no  one  who  is  at  all  familiar  with  his  adventures  in  Paris 
can  fail  constantly  to  read  between  the  lines  of  these 
articles  their  author's  own  experiences  and  aspirations. 
The  Pilgrimage  to  Beethoven  begins  with  a  sarcastic 
invocation  to  Poverty  and  Care,  his  constant  companions, 
who  have  always  kindly  protected  him  from  the  oppres- 
sive sunlight  of  fortune.  Then  follows  a  genuine  auto- 
biographic touch :  — 

"  A  medium-sized  town  of  Central  Germany  was  my  birthplace. 
I  do  not  recall  clearly  what  I  was  intended  to  become,  but  I 
remember  that  one  evening  I  heard  a  Beethoven  symphony  for  the 
first  time,  that  I  had  an  attack  of  fever  thereafter,  and  that,  when 
I  had  recovered,  I  had  become  a  musician.     This  may  explain 

1  Some  of  these  are  reprinted,  with  notes,  in  Kiirschner's  Wagner 
Jahrbuch,  1886,  pp.  273-286. 


TRUTH  IN  FICTION  83 

why,  although  in  course  of  time  I  became  familiar  with  other 
beautiful  music,  I  still  loved  aud  worshipped  Beethoven  above  all. 
I  ceased  to  know  any  other  pleasure  but  that  of  immersing  myself 
in  the  deeps  of  his  genius  until  I  came  to  imagine  myself  to  be  a 
part  of  him,  and  as  this  smallest  part  I  began  to  respect  myself, 
to  adopt  nobler  views  and  ideals  ;  in  short,  I  became  what  wise 
people  commonly  call  a  fool." 

This  enthusiasm  leads  to  the  desire  to  go  to  Vienna, 
solely  to  have  the  supreme  pleasure  of  seeing  the  great 
master.  To  earn  the  necessary  money  he  writes  sonatas, 
but  gets  laughed  at  for  his  pains,  and  finally  he  is  obliged 
to  degrade  himself  by  writing  galops  and  operatic  arrange- 
ments, which  at  last  leads  to  his  goal.  His  adventures  on 
the  Avay  with  a  band  of  strolling  Bohemian  musicians  and 
with  an  eccentric  Englishman  cannot  be  related  here  for 
lack  of  space.  But  the  following  remarks  on  the  opera, 
which  he  takes  the  liberty  to  put  in  the  mouth  of 
Beethoven,  are  very  interesting  as  showing  that  the  com- 
poser of  Rienzi  w\is  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  already 
quite  clear  in  his  mind  regarding  some  of  the  essential 
features  of  the  modern  music-drama :  — 

"  'Annoying  labor  ! '  exclaimed  Beethoven  (with  reference  to  the 
revision  of  his  Fidelio  to  make  it  more  palatable  to  opera-goers  of 
his  day)  :  '  I  am  not  an  opera-composer,  at  least  know  no  theatre 
for  which  I  would  care  to  write  another  opera  !  If  I  were  to  write 
an  opera  after  my  own  mind,  people  would  run  away  ;  for  they 
would  find  in  it  none  of  the  ai'ias,  duets,  terzets,  and  all  the  stuff 
with  which  people  at  present  make  up  an  operatic  patch-work  ;  and 
what  I  would  write  in  their  place  no  vocalist  would  want  to  sing,  no 
auditor  to  hear.  The  only  thing  they  know  is  glittering  unreality, 
brilliant  nonsense,  and  sugar-coated  tediousness.  Were  any  one  to 
write  a  true  nmsic-drama,  he  would  be  considered  a  fool,  and  would 
indeed  be  one  if  he  did  not  make  it  for  himself  alone,  but  tried  to 
bring  it  before  the  public'  " 


84  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

No  artist  has  ever  so  strikingly  foreseen  and  prophesied 
his  whole  career  as  Wagner  did  his  own  in  these  words, 
which  were  penned  between  the  composition  of  Rienzi 
and  the  Flying  Dutchman,  in  this  first  novelette,  of  which 
Jullien  says  that  it  struck  its  Parisian  readers  so  much 
"  by  its  mixture  of  poetry  and  raillery,  of  enthusiasm  and 
bitterness,  that  Berlioz,  a  good  critic  in  such  matters, 
considered  it  worth  while  to  insert  a  special  notice  of  it 
in  the  Journal  des  Debats.'^  Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  Heine  himself,  in  his  letters  from  Paris,  did 
not  use  a  better  literary  style,  or  keener  wit  and  irony 
—  with  the  same  sentimental  undercurrent  —  than  Wag- 
ner did  in  some  of  his  sketches,  notably  in  those  entitled 
the  Virtuoso  and  the  Artist  and  Le  Freischiitz,  which  are 
admirable  samples  of  sarcasm,  persiflage,  and  artistic 
insight.-^ 

In  the  second  novelette,  Ein  Ende  in  Paris,  the  hero 
is  the  same  poor  young  musician  who  had  gone  to  Vienna 
to  see  Beethoven.  He  is  now  in  Paris,  with  the  determi- 
nation to  succeed  or  perish:  " Li  one  year  from  now,''  he 
tells  his  friend,  *'  you  will  he  able  to  find  out  my  residence 
from  every  boy  in  the  streets,  or  else  yoxi  ivill  receive  a  notice 
from  me  where  you  must  go  —  to  see  me  die."^    He  goes 

1  English  versions  of  some  of  these  novelettes  and  essays  may  be 
found  in  Burlingame's  Wagner's  Art  Life  mid  Theories. 

2  Great  as  was  Wagner's  confidence  in  his  own  genius,  he  would  have 
been  doubtless  astounded  could  behave  been  foretold  how  very  literally 
this  semi-autobiographic  prophecy  would  be  fulfilled  half  a  century 
later.  The  Paris  Figaro  of  Sept.  17,  1891,  gives  an  account  of  the 
preparations  made  by  the  police  to  meet  the  20,000  persons  who  were 
expected  to  "  demonstrate  "  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  performance  of 
Lohengrin  at  the  Grand  Opera.  In  the  crowd  was  an  old  woman,  well 
known  to  all  frequenters  of  the  Boulevards,  who  was  knocked  down  in 
the  rush.  When  she  was  picked  up,  she  exclaimed,  "  What  in  the  world 
is  going  on  here?  "     "  Here  was  a  person  who  did  not  know  Wagner  !  " 


PERSONAL   REVELATIONS  85 

through  the  same  stages  as  Wagner  —  tries  honest  ope- 
ratic work;  tries  songs;  degrades  himself  to  the  level 
of  the  public  by  writing  trivial  dance  music;  but  the 
directors  procrastinate  their  promises,  artists  have  no 
ear  for  him,  the  newspapers  are  ruled  by  cliques ;  his 
enemy  even  steals  his  dog,  his  only  solace,  for  whom  he 
has  saved  all  his  crusts  till  he  himself  is  thrown  on  his 
death-bed  by  starvation.  After  the  funeral,  his  friend 
writes :  — 

"  It  was  a  sad  affair.  The  keen  wintry  air  choked  the  breath  ; 
no  one  could  speak,  and  the  funeral  address  was  omitted.  And 
yet  I  must  tell  you  that  he  whom  we  buried  here  was  a  good  man,  a 
brave  German  musician.  He  had  a  kind  heart  and  often  wept  lohen 
he  saw  how  the  poor  horses  were  tortured  in  the  streets  of  Paris. 
He  was  of  a  gentle  disposition  and  never  lost  his  temper  when  the 
street  urchins  pushed  him  off  the  narrow  sidewalks.  Unfortunately 
he  had  a  tender  conscience,  was  ambitious,  had  no  talent  for'  intrigue, 
and  once  had  in  his  youth  seen  Beethoven,  which  turned  his  head 
so  completely  that  he  could  not  possibly  get  along  in  Paris." 

I  have  italicized  two  lines  in  the  above  extract,  because 
they  call  attention  to  two  of  the  most  prominent  traits  in 
Wagner's  character,  — his  love  of  animals  and  his  inabil- 
ity to  further  his  own  cause  except  in  the  most  straight- 
forward and  stubbornly  honest  way,  which  made  him  so 
many  enemies  among  ignorant  operatic  managers,  incom- 
petent artists,  and  bloated  critics. 

"  I  had  not  considered,"  writes  the  friend  of  the  dead  musician, 
"that  I  had  to  deal,  not  with  one  of  those  individuals  whose  per- 
suasions are  easily  acquired  and  altered,  but  with  a  man  whose  faith 

the  Figaro  writer  concludes  ("  En  voila  une  qui  ne  connait  pas 
Wagner").  Lohengrin  was  given  .sixty-one  times  between  Sept.  IG, 
1891,  and  Sept.  IG,  1892,  the  receipts  being  over  a  million  francs. 


86  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

in  the  divine  and  indisputable  truth  of  liis  art  had  reached  such  a 
degree  of  fanaticism  that  it  imposed  on  a  cliaracter  that  was  natu- 
rally most  peaceful  and  tender  an  inflexibly  stubborn  aspect." 
Another  conspicuous  trait,  illustrated  by  Wagner  himself. 

IN  THE   WORKSHOP   OP   GENIUS 

Into  Wagner's  inner  life  none  of  the  essays  of  this 
period  affords  a  deeper  insight  than  the  one  on  The  Artist 
and  Publicity.  Especially  remarkable,  as  showing  the 
natural  affinity  between  the  greatest  musician  and  the 
greatest  philosopher  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  written  by  Wagner  many  years  before 
he  became  acquainted  with  Schopenhauer's  writings,  and 
touching  on  one  of  the  great  pessimist's  favorite  topics 
(see  his  chapter  on  "Genius,"  in  the  second  volume  of 
his  Welt  als  Wille  und  Vorstellnng) .  "Happy  the  genius 
on  whom  fortune  has  never  smiled !  —  Genius  is  so  much 
unto  itself!  What  more  could  fortune  add?"  This 
thought  Wagner  develops  in  another  paragraph  which 
takes  us  into  the  very  workshop  of  creative  genius :  — 

"  When  I  am  alone,  and  the  musical  fibres  within  me  vibrate, 
and  heterogeneous  sounds  form  themselves  into  chords  whence 
at  last  springs  the  melody  which  reveals  to  me  my  inner  self  ;  if 
then  the  heart  in  loud  beats  marks  the  impetuous  rhythms,  and 
rapture  finds  vent  in  divine  tears  through  the  mortal,  no-longer- 
seeing  eyes  —  then  do  I  often  say  to  myself  :  What  a  fool  you  are 
not  to  remain  always  by  yourself,  to  live  only  for  these  unique 
delights,  instead  of  struggling  to  get  before  that  horrible  multitude 
which  is  called  the  public,  in  order  to  get  the  absui-d  permission  to 
continue  the  exercise  of  your  talent  for  composing  !  What  can 
this  public,  with  its  most  brilliant  reception,  offer  you  to  equal  in 
value  even  the  one-hundredth  part  of  that  holy  rapture  which  comes 
from  within  ?  " 


THE  LION   SHOWS  HIS   CLAWS  87 

Why,  nevertheless,  genius  struggles  for  publicity,  is 
the  question  Wagner  tries  to  answer  in  this  essay,  which 
is  very  suggestive  reading.  Here  I  have  room  for  only 
one  more  passage,  which,  if  I  am  not  very  much  mis- 
taken, depicts  Wagner's  own  state  of  mind  and  his  actions 
when  he  was  inspired  with  the  plan  of  the  Flying  Dutch- 
rfYian  —  the  first  opera  in  which  he  is  really  himself :  — 

"  Happy  the  genius  on  whom  fortune  has  never  smiled.  —  Genius 
is  so  much  unto  itself  !     What  more  could  fortune  add  ? 

"  That  is  what  he  says  to  himself,  smiles,  and  laughs,  and  new 
strength  comes  over  him  ;  it  dawns  and  grows :  something  new 
resounds  within  him,  morTfe  clear  and  rapturous  than  ever,  A  work, 
such  as  he  himself  had  never  dreamed  of,  grows  and  flourishes  in 
quiet  solitude.  This  is  it !  That  is  the  right  thing  !  All  the  world 
will  surely  be  enchanted  :  hear  it  once  and  then —  !  See  how  the 
madman  runs  !  It  is  the  old  street,  which  now  seems  new  and 
delightful  to  him  ;  the  mud  bespatters  him  ;  here  he  runs  against  a 
lackey  in  full  uniform,  whom  he  mistakes  for  a  general  and  gi-eets 
respectfully  ;  there  he  collides  with  a  no  less  worthy  bank  messenger, 
with  a  well-filled  money-bag  on  his  shoulder,  and  comes  off  with  a 
bleeding  nose.  All  these  are  good  signs  !  He  runs  and  stumbles, 
and  finally  arrives  again  in  the  sanctum  of  his  miseiy  I  " 

THE  LION   SHOWS   HIS   CLAWS 

That  a  genius  witli  such  a  creative  furor  should  not 
have  been  allowed,  during  almost  three  years,  to  appear 
more  than  once  before  the  Parisian  public  —  and  even 
then  only  with  one  of  his  most  immature  overtures ;  that 
he  should  have  been  kept  from  creative  activity  by  the 
necessity  of  making  "  potboilers  "  (musically :  potpourris) 
—  in  1841,  during  nine  months  at  a  stretch,  he  had  to  giv(^ 
all  his  time  to  such  "ignoble  work,"  as  he  calls  it  —  that 
he  had  to  borrow  of  friends,  borrow  his  furniture,  lose 


88  FIRST  VISIT  TO  PARIS 

his  Columbus  overture  because  he  could  not  pay  the 
expressage  on  it;  that,  during  all  this  time,  his  mind 
was  harassed  by  anxiety  regarding  to-morrow's  bread  and 
the  anguish  of  seeing  his  poor  wife  share  all  these  sor- 
rows, —  surely  this  was  enough  to  turn  the  most  amiable 
enthusiast  into  a  sour  misanthropist  and  a  revolutionary. 
"I  now  entered  on  a  new  path  —  that  of  revolt  against  the 
present  state  of  artistic  life,  with  whose  conditions  I  had 
endeavored  to  make  friendship  when  I  sought  its  most 
brilliant  centre  in  Paris."  It  was  this  feeling  of  a  nec- 
essary revolt  that  (besides  the  pangs  of  hunger)  had  made 
him  seize  the  pen  to  write  criticisms.  When  Schlesinger 
first  invited  his  young  protege  to  write  articles  for  his 
paper  (besides  arranging  scores  and  popular  melodies),  "  it 
was  all  the  same  to  him,"  says  Wagner,  "but  not  to  me. 
While  regarding  that  musical  drudgery  as  my  deepest 
humiliation,  I  seized  the  literary  pen  to  avenge  myself 
for  that  humiliation.  ...  In  my  novelettes  I  narrated 
in  a  fictitious  form,  and  with  considerable  humor,  my  own 
experiences,  especially  in  Paris,  up  to  the  death  by  star- 
vation which  I  fortunately  escaped.  What  I  wrote  was 
in  every  line  a  cry  of  revolt  against  our  modern  art-life. 
I  have  been  repeatedly  assured  tliatthis  afforded  consid- 
erable amusement." 

Wagner  has  been  often  censured  for  his  brusque  and 
polemic  ways.  But  he  was  a  peaceful  and  amiable  man 
in  his  youth  (to  his  friends  all  his  life)  — a  sleeping  lion, 
who  might  have  remained  gentle  had  he  been  gently 
treated ;  but  as  his  fur  was  almost  incessantly  rubbed  the 
wrong  way,  is  it  a  wonder  that  he  began  to  put  out  his 
\claws  before  he  was  thirty,  and  to  growl  louder  and  louder 
'^t  a  world  that  would  not  believe  he  was  a  lion  until 
it  had  felt  his  heavy  paws? 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN     89 


COIVIPOSITION   OF  THE  FLYLNG  DUTCHMAN 

The  thirty  months  spent  in  Paris  were,  however,  by  no 
means  wasted.  They  cured  him  of  his  love  of  the  cheap 
operatic  tricks  of  Donizetti,  Herokl,  and  Adam,  and 
made  him  return  to  his  first  love  —  Weber  and  Beethoven ; 
they  cured  him  forever  of  the  desire  to  win  success  by 
writing  down  to  the  popular  taste  —  he  never  again 
stooped  to  conquer;  ^vhile  the  vanity,  insincerity,  and 
trickiness  of  the  famous  Italian  singers  in  Paris  showed 
him  how  unjust  he  had  been  to  the  artists  of  his  own 
country.  The  reason  why  the  German  singers  had 
seemed  bunglers  was  (as  he  points  out  in  his  Parisian 
essay  on  Music  in  Germany,  Vol.  I.  p.  189)  that  they 
were  asked  to  sing  Italian  colorature  arias  which  were 
unsuited  for  German  throats.  Give  them  German  vocal 
music  to  sing,  and  you  will  find  that  "  these  bunglers  are 
the  truest  artists,  and  are  imbued  with  a  warmer  glow  in 
their  hearts  than  was  ever  diffused  over  you  by  those 
who  have  hitherto  delighted  you  in  your  elegant 
saloons."  He  was  soon  to  discover  the  literal  truth  of 
this  assertion,  in  the  devotion  of  Tichatschek  and  Schroe- 
der-Devrient,  and  later  in  the  noble  art  and  conscientious 
endeavors  of  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld,  the  Vogls,  Nie- 
mann, Betz,  Scaria,  Materna,  Malten,  Sucher,  Brandt, 
and  many  others,  who  have  helped  to  create  a  new  art  of 
realistic  dramatic  song.  But  the  most  important  result 
of  his  first  visit  to  Paris  was  that,  notwithstanding 
the  endless  petty  interruptions  and  cares,  he  found  time 
to  finish  Rienzi  and  compose  the  whole  of  the  Flyitig 
Dutchman.     Two  acts  of  Rienzi  were,  as  we  have  seen, 


90  FIRST   VISIT  TO  PARIS 

finished  at  Riga  before  the  composer  left  for  Paris,  where 
the  other  three  acts  were  completed  in  1840.  When  he 
wrote  these  last  acts  he  had  already  given  up  the  hope  of 
seeing  this  opera  in  Paris,  and  it  was  some  German 
opera-house  that  he  had  in  view  —  especially  Dresden, 
which  had  at  that  time  the  best  dramatic  singers,  and 
was  about  to  have  a  new  opera-house. 

As  regards  the  Flying  Dutchman,  its  history  has  been 
told  up  to  the  day  when  its  author,  fearing  to  lose  his 
sketch  altogether,  had  sold  it  for  five  hundred  francs. 
Fortunately  there  was  nothing  in  the  contract  to  prevent 
his  using  the  same  sketch  to  make  a  libretto  for  him- 
self; and  so,  as  the  weird  subject  had  already  taken  full 
possession  of  him,  he  set  to  work  immediately.  Not 
in  Paris,  however.  The  approach  of  spring  (1841)  had 
awakened  his  ardent  longing  for  country  life.  Coun- 
try life  near  Paris  was,  however,  a  luxury  not  easily 
obtainable. 

"  It  is  not  possible,"  lie  exclaims  (in  one  of  his  letters  to  German 
newspapers  entitled  Pariser  Amusements),  "to  retire  into  soli- 
tude, out  of  reach  of  the  influence  of  Parisian  life,  without  making 
a  considerable  journey.  Happy  the  banker  who  can  make  such 
journeys  !  Happy  the  born  Parisian  who  needs  no  such  journeys ! 
But  woe  to  the  German  residing  in  Paris  who  is  not  a  banker  !  He 
will  be  surely  swallowed  up  in  this  sea  of  unenjoyed  enjoyments  if 
he  does  not  succeed  in  becoming  a  banker.  Ye  30,000  Germans  in 
Paris,  may  you  succeed  in  this  !  " 

At  last  he  was  fortunate  in  finding  a  quiet  place,  near 
a  forest,  at  Meudon,  two  leagues  from  the  city,  where 
there  was  nothing  to  interfere  with  his  creative  activity. 
To  compose  the  opera,  he  relates,  he  needed  an  instru- 
ment :  — 


COMPOSITION  OF  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN      91 

"For  after  nine  months'  interruption  of  all  composition,  I  had  to 
create  a  new  musical  atmosphere.  So  I  hired  a  piano,  and  after  it 
had  arrived  my  mind  was  greatly  disturbed  ;IJe^red  tajnake  4he 
discovery  tliat  I  was  aolonger  a  musician.  With  the  sailors' 
chorus  and  the  spinning  song  I  began,  and  loudly  did  I  give  vent 
to  my  sincere  joy  on  discovering  that  I  was  still  a  musician.  In 
seven  weeks  the  whole  opera  was  completed.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  the  pettiest  cares  began  to  oppress  me  again  ;  two  entire 
months  elapsed  before  I  could  get  a  chance  to  write  the  overture 
for  the  finished  opera,  although  I  carried  it  about  in  my  head 
almost  complete. 

' '  Of  course  my  most  ardent  desire  was  now  to  bring  out  the 
opera  in  Germany  as  soon  as  possible  ;  from  Munich  and  Leipzig  I 
received  refusals ;  the  opera  was  not  suited  for  Germany,  I  was 
told.  Fool  that  I  was,  I  had  imagined  it  was  suited  specially  for 
Germany,  since  it  touches  chords  which  can  vibrate  only  in  a 
German.  At  last  I  sent  the  score  to  Meyerbeer  in  Berlin,  with  the 
request  to  secure  its  acceptance  at  the  Court  Theatre  there.  With 
considerable  promptness  this  was  effected.^  As  my  Bienzi  had  in 
the  meantime  also  been  accepted  at  Dresden,  I  now  looked  forward 
to  the  performance  of  two  of  my  operas  at  the  leading  German 
theatres,  and  involuntarily  the  conviction  forced  itself  on  me  that, 
strange  to  say,  Paris  had  proved  to  me  of  the  greatest  use  as 
regards  Germany.  In  Paris  itself  I  had  no  prospects  for  some 
years  to  come,  so  I  left  it  in  the  spring  of  1842.  For  the  first  time 
I  saw  the  Rhine;  with  tears^irL_my  eyesj,  the  poor  artist,  swore 
eternal  allegiance  to  my  German  fatherland  .^^" ■ 


With  these  words  Wagner  closes  his  admirable  Au- 
tobiograpldc  Sketch,  and  as  his  Mittheilmuj  an  Meine 
Freunde  also  does  not  contain  many  personal  details  of  a 
later  date,  we  shall  henceforth  have  to  rely  for  anthentic 
information  at  first  hand  on  other  documents,  chief 
among  which  are  the  letters  to  and  from  Liszt;  to  his 

1  But  between  tlie  promise  and  the  performance  several  years 
elapsed. 


92  FIRST  VISIT  TO  PARIS 

Dresden  friends  Ulilig,   Fischer,  and  Heine  ;^   to  Frau 
Wille,  Praeger,  and  others. 

Fortunately,  Wagner  leaped  into  sudden  fame  on  his 
return  to  Dresden,  so  that  from  this  time  on  the  news- 
papers and  periodicals  are  full  of  information  regarding 
him.  This  source  of  information  can  and  will,  however, 
only  be  used  with  the  greatest  caution,  since  there  has 
never  been  a  man,  outside  of  politics,  concerning  whom 
so  many  malicious  and  stupid  falsehoods  have  been 
printed  as  concerning  Richard  Wagner  —  for  four  decades, 
from  the  first  performance  of  Rienzi,  in  1842,  to  the  first 
performance  of  Parsifal,  in  1882,  and  even  later. 

1  These  letters  have  been  published  in  three  volumes  by  Breitkopf  & 
Hartel,  in  Leipzig.  Excellent  English  versions  were  made  soon  after 
their  appearance,  of  the  Wagner-Liszt  letters  by  the  late  Dr.  F.  Hueffer, 
and  of  the  letters  to  Dresden  friends  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Shedlock.  New  York, 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  In  regard  to  the  Autobiographic  Sketch  it 
may  be  added  here  that  the  slight  changes  which  Wagner  made  in  it 
when  the  article  was  reprinted  in  his  Collected  Works  are  carefully 
noted  in  the  Wagner  Jahrbuch,  1886  (pp.  288-289). 


RIENZI   IN   DRESDEN 

PRELIMINARY   LETTERS 

The  biographer  of  the  famous  Wagnerian  tenor  Tich- 
atschek,  relates  that  one  day,  towards  the  close  of  1840, 
the  Intendent  of  the  Dresden  Opera  received  from  Paris 
the  manuscript  of  a  new  opera,  which  was  so  enormously- 
bulky  that  its  size  and  weight  alone,  apart  from  the  fact 
that  its  author  was  unknown  to  fame,  woiild  have  suf- 
ficed to  make  most  managers  decide,  without  opening  it, 
that  it  was  not  suited  for  performance.  It  was  the  score 
of  Eienzi,  and  was  accompanied  by  two  letters  both  dated 
Dec.  4,  1840,  one  addressed  to  the  General-Director,  Herr 
von  Liittichau,  the  other  to  Friedrich  August  II.,  King 
of  Saxony.  From  the  letter  to  Liittichau  two  passages 
may  be  quoted  here :  ^  — 

"  It  has  always  been  one  of  my  most  alluring  hopes  that  one  of 
my  dramatic  compositions  might  be  performed  at  the  Court  Theatre 
in  the  capital  of  my  native  country,  and  latterly  I  have  devoted 
most  of  my  time  to  the  completion  of  an  opera,  the  principal  roles 
in  which  I  wrote  especially  witii  a  view  to  their  interpretation  by 
some  talented  artists  who  enjoy  the  good  fortune  of  being  con- 
nected with  the  Dresden  Opera.  This  work,  a  five-act  opera 
entitled  Bienzi.,  I  have  just  completed,  and  now  hasten  to  send 
your  Excellency  the  score  and  the  text-book,  together  with  the 

1  These  letters  are  printed  complete  in  Robert  Proelss's  Geschichte 
des  Ho/theaters  in  Dresden,  p.  118  seq. 

93 


94  BIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

request  that  you  might  permit  the  first  performance  to  take  place 
in  the  Court  Theatre.  .  .  . 

"When  I  made  up  my  mind  to  write  a  grand  opera  with  the 
intention  of  offering  it  to  the  Dresden  Court  Theatre  for  the  first 
performance,  I  discovered  that  the  plan  of  building  a  new  and 
magnificent  theatre  was  about  to  be  realized  ;  the  reports  I  received 
regarding  the  grand  dimensions  of  this  projected  building  led  me 
to  conceive  the  mise-en-scene  of  my  opera  in  a  sumptuous  manner, 
corresponding  to  the  character  of  such  a  theatre.  Your  Excellency 
will  therefore  see  by  a  glance  at  my  poem  that  the  work  might 
perhaps  be  specially  adapted  to  be  placed  on  the  list  of  new  works 
that  have  been  chosen  for  the  first  performances  in  the  new  house. 
Perhaps  I  may  even  be  pardoned  the  boldness  of  pointing  out 
that  it  might  not  be  at  all  improper  to  give  an  honorable  place 
on  this  list  to  the  work  of  a  Saxon  who  has  honestly  endeavored 
to  consecrate  to  his  country  his  best  and  most  mature  artistic 
efforts." 

In  the  letter  to  the  King,  whom  he  addresses  as  "Al- 
lerdurchlauchtigster  Herr,  Allergnadigster  Herr  und 
Konig,"  Wagner  recalls  the  fact  that  his  stepfather 
Geyer  had  been  honored  by  permission  to  paint  the  por- 
traits of  the  royal  family;  and  in  the  concluding  para- 
graph he  begs  his  Majesty's  permission  to  dedicate  his 
opera  to  him. 

Nothing  was  apparently  attained  through  these  letters 
except  the  retention  of  the  manuscript  for  future  refer- 
ence. To  accelerate  matters,  Wagner  again  applied  to 
Meyerbeer,  who  addressed  the  following  letter  to  Liitti- 
chau : — 

"Your  Excellency  will  pardon  me,  I  am  sure,  if  I  molest  you 
with  these  lines,  for  I  remember  your  constant  good-will  towards 
me  so  well  that  I  could  not  refuse  the  request  of  an  interesting 
young  countryman,  who  perhaps  has  a  too  flattering  confidence 
in  my  influence  on  your  Excellency,  to  assist  his  project  with  these 


PRELIMINARY  LETTERS  95 

lines.  Herr  Richard  Wagner  of  Leipzig  is  a  young  composer  who 
has  not  only  had  a  thorough  musical  education,  but  who  possesses 
much  imagination,  as  well  as  general  literary  culture,  and  whose 
predicament  certainly  merits  in  every  way  sympathy  in  his  native 
country.  His"  most  ardent  wish  is  to  produce  his  opera  Bie7izi, 
of  which  he  has  written  both  the  text  and  the  music,  in  the  new 
royal  theatre  in  Dresden.  Some  selections  from  it  which  he  played 
for  me  I  found  rich  in  conception  [phantasiereich]  and  of  great 
dramatic  effect.  May  the  young  artist  enjoy  the  protection  of 
your  Excellency,  and  find  occasion  to  see  his  remarkable  talent 
more  widely  appreciated.  I  once  more  implore  your  Excellency's 
pardon,  and  beg  you.  to  preserve  towards  me  your  gracious  good- 
will. Most  respectfully 

"  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

"Metekbeer." 

Not  till  three  months  later,  however,  did  Wagner 
receive  from  the  royal  director  the  announcement  that 
Rienzi  had  been  accepted;  and  this  decision  was  owing 
chiefly,  it  seems,  to  the  efforts  of  Tichatschek,  who 
saw  at  once  wdiat  a  fine  heroic  role  this  opera  offered 
liini,  and  of  the  Chorus-Director,  Wilhelm  Fischer,  who 
subsequently  became  one  of  Wagner's  most  intimate 
friends.  Half  a  year  before  he  left  Paris  he  began  to 
correspond  with  Fischer  regarding  the  projected  per- 
formance of  Rienzi  in  Dresden;  while  the  letters  to 
Ferdinand  Heine,  an  old  friend  of  the  Wagner  family, 
who  was  at  tliat  time  designer  of  costumes  at  the  Court 
Theatre,  begin  even  six  months  sooner  —  which  shows 
how  long-deferred  were  Wagner's  hopes,  even  after  the 
acceptance  of  his  opera.  Indeed,  between  its  formal 
acceptance  and  its  performance  on  Oct.  20,  1842,  no 
fewer  than  sixteen  months  elapsed.  Of  the  tortures 
to  which  Wagner  was  subjected  during  this  period  of 


96  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

suspense  his  letters  to  Fischer  and  Heine  give  many 
striking  illustrations.^ 

The  first  of  the  letters  to  Ferdinand  Heine  is  interest- 
ing as  showing  that  half  a  century  ago  some  German 
theatre-goers  appear  to  have  had  similar  scruples  regard- 
ing religious  representations  on  the  stage  to  those  that 
still  prevail  in  England.  Religious  objections  had  been 
made  against  the  plot  of  RienzL  To  overcome  these  Wag- 
ner points  out  that  Catholic  costume  was  involved  in  this 
case  rather  than  Catholic  principles;  that  the  Pope  ap- 
pears not  as  a  religious  authority  but  in  his  capacity  as  a 
worldly  ruler;  and  that  precedents  for  his  proceedings 
could  be  found  in  the  operas  La  Juive  and  Les  Hugue- 
nots.    He  concludes  with  these  words :  — 

"Priests  and  ecclesiastics  have,  I  presume,  marched  in  solemn 
procession  across  the  Dresden  stage  before  this  ?  I  should  be 
obliged  if  you  would  confirm  this  belief.  Besides,  no  one  is  better 
qualified  than  you,  my  dear  sir,  to  give  the  costume  a  certain 
mixed  effect,  which,  e.g.,  will  make  it  impossible  for  the  Censor 
to  definitely  point  out  a  cardinal,  although  every  spectator  can 
recognize  him."     (Sly  dog  !) 

These  religious  difficulties  having  been  overcome,  other 
obstacles  arose  to  procrastinate  matters.  Before  Rienzi 
could  be  thought  of,  AcRle  de  Foix,  the  seventh  opera  of 
the  third-rate  composer,  Eeissiger,  who  was  conductor 
of  the  Dresden  Opera,  had  to  be  brought  out.  Reissiger 
pretended,  at  first,  to  be  interested  in  Rienzi,  and  wrote 
Wagner  a  letter  to  that  effect;  but  when  the  tantalizing 
procrastinations  began,  he  refused  to  answer  a  single 

1  They  should  be  read  by  all  who  are  interested  in  Rienzi,  especially 
by  those  who  take  part  in  its  performance,  as  they  contain  a  great 
many  valuable  hints  for  its  correct  interpretation  not  recorded  else- 
where. 


PRELIMINABY  LETTERS  97 

line  to  Wagner's  numerous  letters  of  inquiry.  Nor  did 
Tichatscliek  deign  to  reply  to  his  letters.  Regarding 
Scliroeder-Devrient,  who  was  to  create  the  role  of 
Adrian o,  he  wrote  to  Heine :  — 

"  I  believe  I  have  already  written  her  a  dozen  letters  :  that  she 
has  not  sent  me  a  single  word  in  reply  does  not  surprise  me  very 
much,  because  I  know  how  some  people  detest  letter-writing ;  but 
that  she  has  never  sent  me  indirectly  a  word  or  a  hint  disquiets 
me  greatly.  Great  Heavens  !  so  very  much  depends  on  her ;  it 
would  be  truly  humane  on  her  part  if  she  would  only  send  me  this 
message  —  perhaps  by  her  chambermaid — 'Calm  yourself!  I  am 
interested  in  your  cause  ! '  " 

He  even  had  gone  so  far  as  to  flatter  this  prima  donna's 
pride  by  begging  her  to  name  the  person  who  should  sing 
the  part  of  Irene  (imagine  the  later  Wagner  doing  such 
a  thing!) — without  receiving  a  reply.  Then  he  heard 
that  another  opera,  Halevy's  Guitarrero  (of  which  he 
himself  had  had  to  make  the  pianoforte  score  before  he 
could  raise  the  funds  to  leave  Paris)  was  to  precedei2/en2;t. 
The  final  blow  was  given  by  the  news  that,  owing  to  a 
caprice  of  Schroeder-Devrient's,  Rienzi  was  to  be  post- 
poned once  more  for  a  revival  of  Gluck's  Armida.  It 
was  getting  on  towards  Easter,  and  it  seemed  probable 
that  Rienzi  would  not  be  given  at  all  that  season.  This 
probability  caused  him  to  pour  out  his  heart  in  a  most 
pathetic  letter  to  Heine,  imploring  him  to  leave  no 
stone  unturned  to  accelerate  matters :  — 

"If  you  or  any  one  else  knew  just  exactly  how  my  whole  sit- 
uation, all  my  plans,  all  my  resolutions,  would  be  annihilated  by 
such  a  procrastination,  you  would  have  pity  on  me.  ...  I  am 
really  quite  exhausted  !  Alas  !  I  have  so  few  pleasant  experiences, 
that  it  would  have  been  a  matter  of  indescribable  significance  to 
me  if  at  least  in  Dresden  my  affairs  had  prospered." 


98  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

The  uncertainty  regarding  the  performance  of  his 
opera  did  not,  however,  prevent  him  from  writing  long 
letters  to  Fischer,  giving  hints,  or  Promemoria,  as  he 
calls  them,  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  difficulties  of  the 
score  are  to  be  overcome.  He  suggests  how  the  cast 
should  be  distributed;  begs  Fischer  to  increase  the 
chorus  in  the  church  scene  by  adding  the  students  of  the 
Kreuzschule,  if  possible;  and  for  the  pantomimic  scene 
he  does  not  hesitate  to  make  the  bold  suggestion  that 
the  principal  parts  must  be  played  by  the  regular  actors 
of  the  Dresden  Theatre,  if  justice  was  to  be  done  to  them : 
all  of  which  suggests  the  Wagner  of  later  years.  He 
sums  up  his  position  in  these  words :  — 

"It  is  above  all  things  of  the  most  unspeakable  importance  to 
me  that  the  first  performance  of  my  opera  should  be  flawless  and 
as  complete  in  every  respect  as  possible.  I  have  too  long  de- 
ferred to  do  something  for  my  reputation,  and  for  the  sole  reason 
that  I  considered  a  poor  first  performance  oi  a  new  opera,  such  as 
alone  could  be  given  at  a  provincial  theatre,  as  certain  death  to 
any  work,  however  great  its  natural  vitality  ;  knowing  also  that 
many  a  promising  talent  has  come  to  early  grief  by  being  compelled 
to  place  his  works  before  the  world  in  a  mutilated  and  unrecog- 
nizable condition.  For  eight  years  —  that  is,  ever  since  the  time 
when  I  considered  myself  prepared  to  come  before  the  public  —  I 
have  therefore  remained  quiet,  and  have  constantly  refused  every 
opportunity  to  have  my  works  brought  forward  in  an  incomplete 
manner ;  all  the  more  must  I  now  be  anxious  that  this,  my  first 
appearance,  should  be  as  successful  as  possible." 

The  danger  of  indefinite  procrastination,  or  worse, 
finally  became  so  great,  that  he  could  no  longer  resist 
the  impulse  to  return  to  Germany,  to  see  if  his  personal 
presence  might  not  have  a  beneficial  effect.  Apart  from 
this  he  felt  an  unconquerable  desire  to  see  his  native 


FIEST  PERFORMANCE  OF  RIENZI  99 

coiiiitry  after  five  years  spent  in  Russia  and  France- •■ 
Riga  and  Paris.  His  wife,  also,  needed  the  baths  at 
Teplitz;  so,  after  putting  the  necessary  money  in  his 
})urse  by  doing  some  more  musical  drudgery  for  Schles- 
inger,  he  crossed  the  Rhine,  as  was  told  at  the  end 
of  the  last  chapter,  and  swore  his  fatherland  eternal 
allegiance. 

FIRST   PERFORMANCE   OF   RIENZI 

On  his  return  to  Dresden,  he  was  warmly  welcomed 
by  his  friends,  and  found  to  his  surprise  that  the 
preparations  for  Rienzi  were  going  on  satisfactorily. 
The  new  Opera  House  had  been  opened  just  a  yea.v  before 
he  left  Paris,  and  it  "v/as  a  happy  coincidence  that  this 
fine  monument  of  the  architect  Semper's  genius,  which 
was  to  be  the  scene  of  the  first  performances  of  Rienzi, 
the  Flying  Dutchman^  and  Tannhiiuser,  had  been  inaugu- 
rated with  Weber's  Earyanthe,  the  true  root  of  Wagner's 
nmsic-dramas.  As  the  rehearsals  of  Rienzi  were  not  to 
begin  till  July,  Wagner  found  time  to  take  his  wife  to 
the  baths  at  Teplitz.  This  summer  resort  in  the  Bohe- 
mian forest  always  remained  one  of  his  favorite  refuges. 
Here  he  had  conceived  some  years  before  the  plan  of 
The  Novice  of  Palermo,  and  here,  on  this  occasion,  he 
sketched  the  plot  of  Tannhauser,  with  the  legend  of  which 
he  had  become  acquainted  before  leaving  Paris ;  and  his 
voyage  to  Dresden  had  opportmiely  taken  him  through 
the  Thuringian  Valley,  where  he  got  a  glimpse  of  the 
lofty  Wartburg  which  forms  the  scenic  background  of  this 
opera.  This  castle  he  was  destined  not  to  see  again  till 
seven  years  later,  when  his  Tannhauser  had  been  com- 
pleted and  performed,  and  when  he  was  on  his  way  to 
Switzerland  as  a  political  exile,  pursued  by  the  police. 


100  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

It  was  fortunate  for  tlie  prospects  of  Rienzi  that  its 
composer  was  at  hand  to  superintend  its  production ;  for, 
as  he  himself  confessed,  "  the  exceedingly  elaborate  com- 
position required  many  improvements  and  alterations" 
to  adapt  it  to  stage  requirements.  His  spare  moments 
he  devoted  to  the  versification  of  an  operatic  sketch  which 
he  had  made  some  years  before  and  which  he  now  offered 
to  Conductor  Eeissiger,  who  wanted  a  new  text,  and  who 
had  a  habit  —  like  other  unsuccessful  operatic  composers 
—  of  attributing  his  ill  luck  to  his  poor  librettos.  This 
sketch  was  the  Hohe  Braut,  based  on  Konig's  novel, 
which  he  had  once  sent  to  Scribe.  Eeissiger,  however 
(with  perhaps  some  reasonable  excuse),  suspected  that 
what  Wagner  did  not  care  enough  for  to  use  himself, 
might  not  be  good  enough  for  him  either,  and  so  he  re- 
fused the  poem.  Unwisely,  as  it  turned  out,  for  a 
composer  of  not  much  better  calibre,  named  Kittl,  sub- 
sequently set  it  to  music  and  produced  it  at  Prague  under 
the  title  The  French  before  Nice  with  considerable  suc- 
cess, which  the  critics  attributed  largely  to  its  excellent 
libretto. 

Apart  from  this  rebuff  by  Eeissiger,  however,  Wagner's 
fortunes  had  turned  completely  on  his  arrival  in  Dres- 
den. Unlike  the  management  of  the  Berlin  and'  Paris 
Operas  (as  we  shall  see  later  on),  the  Dresden  authorities 
had  common  sense  enough  to  know  that  a  man  who  has 
the  genius  to  compose  a  grand  opera  ought  to  know  best 
how  it  should  be  performed.  His  advice  was  not  repelled, 
but  sought  for,  and  in  place  of  being  an  obscure,  strug- 
gling musician,  as  he  was  in  Paris,  he  now  found  himself 
respected  and  looked  up  to  as  a  man  of  some  importance. 
This  change  in  his  situation  was  accelerated  by  the  fact 


FIRST  PERFORMANCE   OF  RIENZI  101 

that  the  singers  and  the  players  grew  more  and  more 
enthusiastic  over  Rienzi  as  they  became  more  familiar 
with  the  score.  This  enthusiasm,  of  course,  soon  became 
a  matter  of  general  gossip  throughout  Dresden,  so  that 
expectations  regarding  the  new  opera  were  raised  to  an 
unusuall)''  high  pitch. 

Nor  were  they  destined  to  be  disappointed.  On  the 
contrary,  the  success  of  Rienzi  was  so  pronounced,  its 
reception  by  the  audience  so  brilliant,  that  Wagner,  with 
one  stroke,  became  the  hero  of  the  hour.  It  is  true,  he 
had  everything  in  his  favor.  The  cast  included  the  two 
best  dramatic  singers  that  Germany  had  at  the  time  — 
Schroeder-Devrient  and  Tichatschek  —  and  several  others 
of  merit.  Eeissiger  was  a  good  enough  conductor  for  this 
opera,  and  his  orchestra  excellent,  while  Fischer  had 
seen  to  it  that  the  chorus  was  at  its  best,  and  Heine 
had  taken  care  that  the  numerous  costumes,  which  the 
management  had  provided  for  the  occasion  with  lavish 
generosity,  should  be  worthy  of  the  performance  and  the 
scenic  outfit.  Yet  all  this,  combined  with  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  performers,  could  not  have  insured  such  a 
brilliant  success,  had  not  the  opera  been  made  of  the 
right  metal  to  suit  the  audience  that  heard  its  iirst  per- 
formance. The  impression  made  on  this  audience  by  the 
hitherto  unknown  Wagner  may  best  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  tliat  he  was  not  only  called  before  the  curtain 
several  times,  but  that  the  audience  remained  to  the  end  oj 
the  opera.  This  may  seem  a  dubious  compliment,  but 
under  the  circumstances  it  was  anything  but  dubious; 
for  Rienzi,  at  its  first  performance,  horribile  dictu,  lasted 
no  less  than  six  hours,  from  six  in  the  evening  till  close 
upon  midnight.    The  fourth  act  of  tlie  five  did  not  begin 


102  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

till  ten  o'clock  —  a  time  when  the  old-fasliioned  Germans 
uf  that  period  were  accustomed  to  seek  their  beds,  even 
after  seeing  the  longest  opera  ever  placed  before  them; 
and  here  were  two  more  acts  of  a  new  opera  by  a  new 
composer  to  come  after  that  hour ! 

Wagner  himself,  in  spite  of  his  triumph,  was  horrified 
at  this  unheard-of  length  of  his  opera.  In  reply  to 
Fischer's  preliminary  objections  to  the  extreme  duration 
of  Rienzi,  which  he  had  calculated  at  five  hours,  he  had 
responded  that  this  must  be  a  mistake,  as  his  own  calcu- 
lations made  it  only  about  four  hours,  excluding  inter- 
missions. The  result  showed  that  Fischer  was  nearer 
right  than  Wagner,  who  accordingly  hastened  to  the 
theatre  early  the  next  morning  to  cut  up  his  work  mer- 
cilessly. 

"  I  did  not  believe  the  Intendant  would  ever  repeat  the  opera," 
he  relates.!  4t  After  two  o'clock  I  returned  to  see  whether  the  cuts 
had  been  made  according  to  my  directions  ;  before  that  had  been 
done  I  felt  that  I  could  not  look  any  one  of  the  singers  or  players 
in  the  face.  But  I  was  accosted  with  '  Herr  Wagner,  we  are  not  to 
make  this  cut,  nor  that  one.'  '  Why  not  ?  '  I  asked.  '  Well,  Herr 
Tichatschek  was  here  and  said  we  should  not  make  the  cuts.'  I 
laughed.  Has  Tichatschek  gone  among  my  enemies  ?  In  the 
evening  I  asked  him  about  it.  Tears  came  into  his  eyes  as  he  replied, 
'  I  shall  not  permit  any  cuts  ;  it  was  too  heavenly  ! '  " 

On  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  first 
performance  of  Rienzi  (Oct.  20,  1892)  the  German  papers 
published  a  long  letter  written  by  Wagner  (on  Nov.  6, 
1845)  to  friends  in  Paris,  and  containing  some  more 
details  of  interest :  — 

1  These  words  are  cited  by  Glasenapp  (I.  p.  142)  from  a  stenographic 
report  made  by  Dr.  Bierey  in  Dresden,  of  Wagner's  own  narrative  in  a 
circle  of  friends. 


FIRST  PERFORMANCE  OF  RIENZI  103 

"  Children,  it  is  true  ;  my  opera  has  had  an  unprecedented  suc- 
cess, and  this  is  the  more  surprising  since  it  was  the  Dresden  public 
which  gave  expression  to  this  success  —  a  public  which  had  never 
before  been  in  the  position  to  express  a  first  opinion  on  an  important 
dramatic  work.  .  .  .  Well,  you  know  about  the  result  of  the  firet 
performance  —  therefore  no  more  about  it ;  it  has  marked  an  epoch 
ill  the  annals  of  German  operatic  performances.  The  opera  has 
since  had  its  fourth  performance,  and  what  is  more,  —  an  unheard 
of  event, — always  at  raised  prices  and  with  over-crowded  house. 
.  ,  .  What  seems  most  remarkable  to  me  is  the  patience  of  the 
public  ;  I  have  shortened  as  much  as  possible,  but  still  the  opera 
lasts  (from  six)  till  half-past  ten,  and  at  no  performance  yet  has 
any  one  been  seen  to  leave  his  seat:  with  the  greatest  expecta- 
tion and  attention  everybody  remains  to  the  fall  of  the  last  curtain, 
and  that  means  something  in  Dresden.  When  I  went  about  to 
make  cuts  I  had  some  curious  experiences :  the  singers  said,  '  Yes, 
it  is  terribly  fatiguing,'  but  no  one  wanted  any  cuts  :  Tichatschek 
I  almost  begged  on  my  knees  to  permit  a  pruning  of  his  terribly 
exhausting  role  :  impossible  !  Always  his  answer  was,  '  No  ;  for  it 
is  too  heavenly  !     It  is  too  heavenly  ! '  " 

This  opinion  seemed  to  be  shared  by  the  public,  and  the 
correspondent  of  the  Leipzig  Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik 
(Schumann's  paper)  wrote:  "I  express  my  inmost  con- 
viction when  I  say :  A  pity  for  every  bar  that  is  taken 
out."  To  obviate  the  necessity  of  mutilating  the  score 
the  opera  was  divided  into  two  sections  and  given  on  two 
consecutive  nights.  Berlioz  was  among  those  who  heard 
it  (or  rather  the  last  three  acts)  in  this  form,  and  in  his 
Voyage  Musical  en  Allemagne,  he  commented  favorably  on 
it.  Later  on  it  was  reduced  to  five  and  one-half  hours 
and  again  given  on  one  evening,  always  to  full  houses. 
Wagner's  name  was  made,  but  how  about  his  income? 
In  the  letter  just  quoted  from,  he  tells  of  the  rumors  that 
he  had  received  2000  thaler  for  Rienzi.     The  truth,  how- 


104  BIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

ever,  was  that,  after  the  third  performance  the  Intendaiit 
had  sent  him  a  flattering  letter  enclosing  300  thaler 
($225),  "although,"  as  he  said,  "the  usual  honorarium 
for  an  opera  was  only  twenty  louis  d'or  "  (107  thaler). 
This  was  much  less  than  Wagner  felt  he  had  a  right  to 
expect  after  "  such  a  fabulous  success, "  and  he  resolves 
hereafter  not  to  leave  such  things  to  the  "  generosity  "  of 
Intendants,  but  to  make  his  own  terms.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, he  writes,  his  Paris  creditors  will  have  to 
wait,  all  the  more  as  his  older  Magdeburg  creditors  are 
threatening  legal  prosecution,  and  he  has  some  scores  to 
settle  at  Dresden  too.  But  he  has  the  most  sanguine 
hopes  for  the  future.  He  longs  to  meet  his  Paris  friends 
again:  "for  you  must  know,  we  are  still  orphaned:  in 
the  evenings  we  sit  alone,  alone,  and  no  one  comes  as 
formerly.  Ah!  how  strange  that  the  most  distressful 
periods  of  life  should  leave  behind  such  sweet  memories ! 
—  Children,  we  must  arrange  to  meet  again !  Only  wait 
till  my  operas  bring  me  a  handsome  profit;  when  the 
creditors  [Gldubiger]  are  disposed  of,  it  will  be  the  turn 
of  the  believers  [Glauhige7i].'' 

Intendant  Liittichau  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
success  of  Rienzi  that  he  was  eager  to  follow  it  up  at  once 
with  a  second  opera  by  the  same  composer.  The  Dutch- 
man score  had  long  been  at  Berlin,  but  the  performance 
had  been  postponed  again  and  again  in  favor  of  operas  by 
such  men  as  Lachner.  Wagner  now  asked  for  his  score, 
but  his  request  was  not  heeded,  whereupon  he  peremp- 
torily demanded  that  it  should  be  returned,  else  he  would 
hold  the  possessors  responsible  for  consequences.  Upon 
this  it  was  forwarded  to  Dresden  and  produced  there. 
But  before  describing  that  event  we  must  linger  a  moment 
over  the  plot  and  the  music  of  Rienzi. 


THE  STORY  OF  RIENZI  105 


THE  STORY   OF   RIENZI 


Act  I.  Scene:  a  Eoman  street  at  night;  the  church 
of  St.  John  Lateran  in  the  background,  to  the  right  the 
liouse  of  the  papal  notary  Rienzi.  Th£.-patrician  Orsini 
and  his  followers  place  a  ladder  against  Rienzi's  house 
and  attempt  to  abduct  his  sister  Irene,  "  the  most  beau- 
tiful girl  in  Rome."  While  Irene  struggles  against  her 
captors,  a  rival  patrician  faction,  the  Colonnas,  arrive, 
and  fight  for  her  possession.  Among  them  is  Colonna's 
son,  Adriano,  who  is  in  love  with  Irene,  and  who,  on 
recognizing  her,  immediately  fights  his  way  to  her  side 
and  protects  her.  Amid  the  tumult,  in  which  the  popu- 
lace has  taken  part,  Rienzi  arrives.  He  reminds  the 
people  of  their  promise  to  him  to  wait  for  the  proper 
moment  to  strike,  and  denounces  the  patricians  for  their 
nefarious  conduct.  The  latter  leave  to  settle  their  quar- 
rel outside  the  city  gates,  and  Rienzi  is  asked  by  Cardi- 
nal Raimondo  when  he  is  going  to  begin  the  war  against 
the  nobles.  In  reply  Rienzi  informs  him  and  the  people 
that  the  moment  for  attack  will  be  announced  by  a  long- 
drawn  trumpet  sound.  Rienzi  then  persuades  Adriano 
to  desert  his  faction  and  become  a  true  Roman.  The 
lovers  are  left  alone  to  exchange  vows,  and  apprehensions 
of  evil,  when  suddenly  the  fatal  sound  of  the  trumpet 
is  heard,  first  at  a  distance,  then  nearer.  The  day 
breaks;  organ  and  chorus  are  heard  in  the  church;  the 
populace  assembles  and  frantically  proclaims  Rienzi  as 
King  of  Rome.  Rienzi  declines  to  accept  any  title  but 
that  of  the  people's  Tribune;  and  the  act  closes  with  an 
oath  to  avenge  the  crimes  of  tlie  nobles. 


106  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

Act  II.  Scene :  a  large  hall  in  the  Capitol.  Messen- 
gers of  peace  arrive  and  proclaim  the  victory  of  the 
people  and  their  new  Tribune  over  the  enemy.  Rienzi  ap- 
pears, and  the  proud  patricians  are  obliged  to  do  homage 
to  him.  Left  alone,  they  plot  against  his  life,  and  Orsini 
is  chosen  to  assassinate  him  at  the  coming  festivities. 
But  Adriano  has  overheard  the  plot  and  warns  Eienzi. 
The  foreign  ambassadors  arrive  in  solemn  procession  to 
hand  their  papers  to  Rienzi,  who  astounds  them  by  the 
bold  announcement  that  henceforth  Rome  will  choose  its 
own  King.  They  remain,  however,  to  witness  the  fes- 
tivities, which  include  a  pantomimic  representation  of 
the  tragedy  of  Tarquinius  and  Lucretia,  followed  by  a 
combat  of  knights  in  mediaeval  costume  with  Roman 
warriors.  The  nobles  gradually  crowd  around  Rienzi,  and 
Orsini  stabs  him,  but  he  is  saved  by  a  concealed  steel 
breastplate.  For  this  ncAV  outrage  all  the  nobles  are 
condemned  to  death.  But  Adriano,  assisted  by  Irene, 
begs  for  his  father's  life,  and  Rienzi,  despite  the  warning 
of  his  friends,  pardons  all  the  nobles  on  their  oath  of 
submission. 

Act  III.  Scene:  a  public  square  in  Rome.  Great 
tumult  and  ringing  of  alarm  bells.  The  nobles,  having 
broken  their  oath,  are  again  offering  battle,  and  the  pop- 
ulace wildly  clamors  for  its  leader.  Rienzi  appears  on 
horseback,  with  Irene  and  the  senators.  Adriano  once 
more  attempts  to  hold  back  Rienzi  from  exterminating 
the  nobles,  offering  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  but  Rienzi 
sternly  refuses.  Irene  and  Adriano  are  again  left  alone. 
When  the  plebeians  return  they  proclaim  Rienzi's  fresh 
victory,  and  among  the  bodies  brought  back  is  that  of 
Colonna.     At  sight  of  it  Adriano  swears  vengeance  on 


THE  STORY  OF  RIENZI  107 

Eienzi  for  his  father's  death.     A  triumphal  procession 
ends  the  act. 

Act  IV.  Scene :  street  near  the  Lateran  church.  The 
senators  Baroncelli  and  Cecco  lament  that  the  ambassa- 
dors, offended  by  Eienzi's  remarks,  have  left  Eome,  and 
that  trouble  is  in  sight.  Baroncelli  accuses  Eienzi  of 
treason.  His  motive  in  pardoning  the  nobles,  he  says, 
was  to  become  one  of  their  number  through  the  marriage 
of  Irene  and  Adriano.  This  accusation  is  overheard  by 
Adriano,  who,  seeing  his  opportunity  for  revenge,  steps 
forward  and  asserts  that  it  is  true.  In  the  midst  of  a 
festive  procession,  Eienzi  now  marches  to  the  church. 
Adriano's  intention  to  murder  him  is  prevented  by  the 
presence  of  Irene,  and  the  conspirators  who  bar  his  way 
are  cowed  by  his  manly  words.  Suddenly,  just  as  Eienzi 
sets  foot  on  the  church  steps,  a  chant  of  malediction  is 
heard  within,  and  Cardinal  Eaimondo  appears  and  places 
the  ban  of  excommunication  on  him.  The  nobles  have  won 
their  cause  by  an  alliance  with  the  all-powerful  Church. 
Eienzi's  followers  disperse  in  dismay.  Adriano  entreats 
Irene  to  fly  with  him ;  but  she  repels  him  and  declares 
she  will  stay  and  perish  with  her  brother. 

Act  V.  Scene :  a  hall  in  the  Capitol.  Eienzi's  prayer, 
that  his  great  work  may  not  be  thus  undone.  Irene 
appears,  and  he  urges  her  to  save  herself  by  going  with 
Adriano;  but  in  vain.  Eienzi  determines  to  address  the 
people  once  more,  and  leaves.  Adriano,  goaded  to  mad- 
ness by  his  love  and  grief,  makes  one  more  vain  attempt 
to  persuade  Irene  to  go  with  him.  The  tumult  grows 
outside,  and  the  scene  clianges  to  the  open  place  in  front 
of  the  capitol.  The  infuriated  populace  refuses  to  listen 
to  Eienzi's  words  and  sets  lire  to  the  Capitol.     Adriano 


108  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

sees  Irene  and  Rienzi  arm  in  arm,  surrounded  by  flames, 
and  rushes  into  the  fire  the  moment  the  Capitol  crashes 
to  the  ground,  burying  him  with  the  others.  As  the 
curtain  falls,  the  nobles  are  seen  cutting  down  the  mis- 
guided people. 

WAGNER 'S   OPINION   OF   RIENZI 

No  creative  artist  has  ever  been  less  trusted  by  his 
contemporaries  in  his  opinion  of  his  own  works  at  the 
time  they  were  written  than  Richard  Wagner;  yet  we 
can  see  to-day  that  no  artist  ever  had  a  clearer  perception 
of  his  strong  and  his  weak  points  than  he.  Tliis  is  con- 
spicuously proved  by  the  judgments  he  passed  on  Rienzi 
at  various  times.  The  most  objective  and  disinterested 
critic  of  to-day  could  not  more  definitely  point  out  what 
is  most  and  what  is  least  satisfactory  in  this  opera  than 
he  has  done  himself. 

The  reader  therefore  will  doubtless  be  grateful  if, 
instead  of  giving  my  own  humble  verdict  on  the  opera,  I 
bring  to  a  focus  Wagner's  own  remarks  thereon,  which 
are  scattered  through  a  dozen  of  his  essays  and  letters; 
all  the  more  as  I  see  no  reason  for  differing  from  any  one 
of  these  judgments,  except  that  I  should  place  more 
emphasis  than  he  himself  did  on  the  dramatic  power  and 
interest  of  his  Rienzi  poem,  which  Meyerbeer  is  said  to 
have  declared  the  best  libretto  he  had  ever  seen,  and 
which  is  certainly  one  of  the  best  constructed  and  most 
exciting  ones  produced  up  to  that  time;  entirely  free 
from  what  must  be  called  the  versified  rot  of  which  most 
opera  librettos  are  made  up,  ^nd  which  induced  Voltaire 
to  make  his  oft-quoted  remark  that  "  what  is  too  silly  to 
be  spoken  is  sung."    Wagner's  whole  career  as  a  dramatic 


WAGNER'S   OPINION   OF  EIENZI  109 

poet  may  be  summed  up  by  saying  that  it  was  an  attempt 
to  remove  this  reproach  from  operatic  poetry.  And  this 
process  began  with  Bienzi,  although  by  no  means  in  the 
radical  manner  of  his  later  dramatic  poems. 

Kegarding  Wagner's  attitude  toward  his  early  operas, 
two  opinions  have  long  been  current,  thanks  to  persistent 
misrepresentations  based  partly  on  ignorance,  partly  on 
malice  and  dishonesty :  one  being  that  he  overvalued  all 
his  own  works,  the  other  that  he  entirely  "  repudiated  " 
his  early  operas,  including  Rienzi,  the  Flying  Dutchman, 
and  even  Tannlidnser  and  Lohengrin.  Both  are  equally 
erroneous.  So  far  was  he  from  overvaluing  Rienzi,  that 
in  the  preface  to  the  first  volume  of  his  Collected  Works 
he  actually  apologized  for  printing  the  Rienzi  libretto 
side  by  side  with  his  other  poems. 

"If  in  writing  this  opera-book,"  lie  continues,  "I  had  in  the 
least  entertained  the  ambition  of  being  a  poet,  I  think  the  develop- 
ment of  my  mind  at  that  time  would  have  enabled  me  to  write 
sufficiently  correct  verses,  since  I  had  succeeded  in  this  even  in  an 
earlier  attempt,  The  Novice  of  Palermo^  to  such  a  degree  as  to  win 
tlie  approval  of  my  quondam  friend  Laube." 

He  then  goes  on  to  explain  that  what  made  him  care- 
less in  executing  the  Rienzi  poem  was  his  daily  experience 
that  the  public  of  that  time  accepted  the  trashiest 
librettos  in  German,  or  translations  from  the  French,  so 
long  as  the  subject  was  theatrically  effective,  or  the  music 
particularly  good,  as  in  Jessonda  and  Euryanthe. 

In  another  place  (IV.  p.  319)  he  says  that  in  preparing 
the  text  for  Rienzi  he  had 

"  practically  no  other  thought  than  that  of  writing  an  effective 
opera  libretto.  The  '  Grand  Opera,'  with  all  its  scenic  and  musical 
splendor,  its  accumulation  of  massive  effects,  musical  and  emotional, 


110  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

stood  before  my  eyes ;  and  the  aim  of  my  artistic  ambition  was  not 
only  to  imitate  it,  but  to  surpass  all  previous  examples  in  reckless 
extravagance.  Nevertheless,  I  would  be  unjust  to  myself  were  I  to 
name  this  ambition  as  the  sole  motive  that  guided  me  in  the  con- 
ception and  execution  of  my  Bienzi.  The  subject  really  inspired 
me,  and  I  added  nothing  to  my  concept  that  did  not  have  direct 
reference  to  the  source  of  this  inspiration. i  .  .  . 

"To  the  language  and  versification  I  gave  no  more  care  than 
seemed  to  me  necessary  for  securing  a  good  opera  text,  free  from 
triviality.  It  was  not  my  aim  to  write  duos  and  trios ;  but  they 
seemed  to  present  themselves  in  this  and  that  place  naturally,  since 
I  looked  at  my  subject  solely  through  operatic  spectacles.  So, 
again,  I  did  not  seek  in  this  subject  an  excuse  for  a  ballet,  but  with 
the  eyes  of  an  opera  composer  I  espied  in  it  a  festival  which  Bienzi 
had  to  give  to  the  populace)  and  in  which  he  would  have  to  place 
before  them  a  dramatic  spectacle  from  ancient  history  as  a  theat- 
rical exhibition  ;  this  was  the  story  of  Lucretia  and  the  expulsion 
of  the  Tarquins  connected  therewith. 

"That  this  pantomime,"  he  adds  in  a  footnote,  "had  to  be 
omitted  in  the  theatres  where  Bienzi  was  given  was  an  annoying 
disadvantage  to  me  ;  for  the  ballet  which  took  its  place  diverted 
criticism /rom  my  nobler  intentions,  and  gave  it  nothing  to  see  here 
except  an  ordinary  operatic  spectacle." 

It  is  most  significant  of  Wagner's  high  dramatic  mis- 
sion that  even  here  in  Bienzi,  where  he  had  no  thought 
of  reforming  the  opera,  he  not  only  avoided  trashy  and 
trivial  verses,  but  sought  to  replace  the  ordinary  vulgar 
ballet  by  a  spectacle  logically  called  for  by  the  situation. 

In  a  footnote  to  the  preface  of  Vol.  I.  he  furthermore 
explains  that  the  text  of  Bienzi  is  there  printed  in  its 
original  form  "  as  a  means  of  correcting  the  judgment  of 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  Rienzi  was  planned  as  early  as  the 
Riga  days.  Wagner  dwells  on  the  pleasure  it  gave  him  at  that  time  to 
forget  the  worries  and  cares  that  were  his  daily  experience  in  the 
artistic  atmosphere  of  the  grand  historic  subject  which  he  had  chosen 
for  his  opera. 


WAGNER'S   OPINION  OF  EIENZI  111 

those  ^vho  know  the  opera  only  in  the  mutilated  form  in 
which  it  is  now  given  in  the  theatres;  and  who  are  there- 
fore astonished  at  the  clumsy  manner  in  which  the 
grotesque  effects  are  piled  on  one  another." 

All  these  extracts  show  that  Wagner,  without  being 
particularly  proud  of  this  early  and  noisy  child  of  his, 
nevertheless  had  a  good  word  for  it  on  occasion.  And 
although  he  liimself  frankly  pointed  out  that  its  music 
was  inspired  by,  and  modelled  after,  that  of  Auber,  Meyer- 
beer, and  Halevy,  he  also  wrote  these  words :  "  However 
coldly  I  may  look  back  on  my  early  opera,  I  must  admit 
this  much,  that  it  is  pervaded  by  a  youthful,  heroic  enthu- 
siasm." In  the  letters  to  Liszt  (1849-1858)  there  are 
several  references  to  Rienzi,  in  which  he  declares  that 
he  has  no  heart  to  reconstruct  this  opera,  because  he 
has  got  beyond  it;  that  he  values  it  chiefly  as  a  possible 
source  of  income;  and  that  he  is  willing  to  let  the  Paris- 
ians try  it,  even  if  they  bungle  it,  since  it  is  no  longer 
"  a  heart-care "  of  his,  and  since,  after  all,  it  is  better 
suited  to  Parisian  taste  than  any  of  the  later  operas. 
These  remarks  show,  indeed,  that,  as  I  have  said,  he  was 
not  particularly  proud  of  Rienzi,  but  not  that  he  disa- 
vowed it  entirely,  as  his  opponents  always  maintained, 
or  that  he  considered  it  a  "sin  of  his  youth."  This 
misconception  —  to  use  a  mild  epithet  —  dates  from  an 
incident  that  occurred  when  Wagner  first  brought  out 
Rienzi  in  Berlin.  It  is  so  characteristic  of  the  tactics  of 
liis  enemies,  and  reveals  an  important  trait  in  his  own 
character  so  strikingly,  that  it  nuist  be  briefly  told, 
jjartly  in  his  own  words. 


112  BIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 


AN   UNDIPLOMATIC   SPEECH 

At  that  time  (Oct.  26,  1847)  Wagner  had  added  the 
score  of  Tannhduser  to  that  of  the  Flying  Dutchman,  and 
with  these  two  works  he  had  already  created  a  style  of 
his  own,  which  naturally  made  him  look  with  less  favor 
on  the  imitative  Rienzi,  with  its  spectacular  pomp,  deaf- 
ening noise,  and  general  operatic  shallowness.  Unfortu- 
nately he  never  was  a  good  diplomatist.  He  could  not 
feign  the  same  interest  in  Rienzi  that  he  now  felt  for  the 
other  two  operas,  and  he  forgot  that,  although  Ids  geniiis 
had  outgrown  his  early  opera,  the  same  was  not  true  of  the 
general  public.    But  he  could  not  repress  his  own  feelings. 

"I  always  was  a  bungler  in  lying,"  he  says.  "For  example, 
nothing  injured  me  more  than  the  fact  that,  conscious  of  being 
able  to  do  better  things  than  Bienzi,  I  made  a  speech  to  the  artists 
at  the  dress  rehearsal  in  which  I  declared  the  exaggerated  demands 
made  on  the  artists  by  that  opera  as  an  '  artistic  sin  of  my  youth. ' 
The  reporters  immediately  dished  up  this  expression  before  the 
public  and  made  it  feel  in  regard  to  this  work  that,  inasmuch  as 
its  composer  himself  had  declared  it  to  be  a  '  thorough  failure,'  its 
production  before  the  art-cultivated  Berlin  public  was  an  imperti- 
nence deserving  of  castigation.  Thus  my  ill  success  in  Berlin  was 
in  truth  referable  more  to  my  badly  played  role  as  a  diplomatist 
than  to  the  opera  itself,  which,  if  I  had  approached  it  with  full 
faith  in  its  value  and  in  my  eagerness  to  make  it  appreciated, 
might  have  been  as  successful  as  other  operas  of  much  less  attrac- 
tiveness that  were  produced  in  that  city." 

MERITS   AND   DEMERITS    OF    RIENZI 

The  reader  will  now  thoroughly  understand  Wagner's 
attitude  towards  this  work.     His  feeling  toward  it  may 


MERITS  AND  DEMERITS   OF  EIENZI  113 

have  been  comparable  to  that  which  Schiller  must  have 
had  in  regard,  to  his  Rohhers  as  compared  with  his  more 
mature  dramas.  But  Die  Riiuher  is  still  frequently 
played  in  Germany,  and  so  is  Rienzi}  Probably  it  would 
have  disappeared  ere  this  had  it  not  been  kept  afloat  by 
the  grander  works  from  the  same  pen  which  followed  it; 
yet  it  is  hardly  correct  to  say  that  its  value  to-day  is  only 
historic.  It  has  numerous  passages  which  are  interest- 
ing in  themselves,  and  others  because  they  foreshadow 
harmonic  and  orchestral  peculiarities  of  the  later  AVag- 
ner;  while  the  overture,  wliicli  was  written  after  the 
whole  opera  had  been  completed,  is  an  excellent  piece  for 
popular  concerts,  at  which  it  is  always  warmly  applauded. 
As  ordinarily  given,  Rienzi  is  tedious,  but  with  a  dramatic 
conductor  like  Anton  Seidl,  and  in  its  title-role,  a  Nie- 
mann or  a  Schott,  who  bring  out  the  dramatic  as  well  as 
the  musical  points,  it  is  to  this  day  an  entertaining  spec- 
tacle. Whereas  many  of  its  airs  are  as  trivial  and  light 
as  any  admirer  of  barrel-organ  tunes  could  desire,  Rienzi's 
prayer  and  several  of  the  finales  have  a  wide  melodic 
sweep  and  an  originality  which  will  for  many  years  pre- 
serve their  claim  to  an  occasional  hearing.  There  are 
not  a  few  melodic  and  dramatic  buds  —  traces  of  true 
Wagnerian  melos,  striking  modulations,  and  telling  bits 
of  instrumentation  —  that  were  unfolded  in  his  later 
works,  including  some  distinct  prophetic  allusions  to 
Tannhduser  and.  Lohengrin ;  wliile  the  effectiveness  of 
the  libretto  betrays  the  genuineTlramatist  —  the  greatest, 
from  a  theatric  point  of  view,  tluit  Germany  has  ever 
produced. 

1  Iii(nziha.<l  tliirty-one  performances  in  Germany  during  the  operatic 
season  ISSD-OO,  and  forty  during  the  season  IS'JO-t)!. 


114  RIENZI  IN  DRESDEN 

The  most  serious  blemisli  in  Rienzi  is  the  assigning  of 
the  lover's  role  to  a  woman,  an  absurdity  which  strikes 
us  to-day  none  the  less  forcibly,  though  we  bear  in  mind 
that  in  the  palmy  days  of  Italian  opera  this  was  the 
regular  custom,  which  reached  its  climax  of  idiocy  in 
one  of  Bellini's  operas  in  which  even  the  typical  mascu- 
line lover,  Romeo,  is  impersonated  by  a  woman!  In 
those  good  old  times  operas  were  written  solely  for  the 
singers  and  the  admirers  of  their  vocal  skill;  and  how 
little  the  sense  of  dramatic  propriety  was  developed,  is 
shown  most  vividly  by  the  fact  that  such  an  amorous 
absurdity  could  be  perpetrated  even  by  Wagner,  who  was 
destined  soon  thereafter  to  become  the  creator  of  the 
genuine  music-drama,  in  which  "  the  play  is  the  thing, " 
and  the  vocal  and  instrumental  music  merely  a  means  of 
intensifying  the  emotions  of  the  dramatis  j^ersonm. 

On  listening  to  Wagner's  later  music-dramas  people 
often  wonder  where  he  got  the  reputation  of  being  such 
a  noisy  composer.  But  when  they  hear  Rienzi  with  its 
loud  orchestra,  enforced  by  a  military  band  on  the  stage, 
its  drums  and  alarm  bells,  its  trumpet  calls,  and  loud 
vocal  parts,  they  wonder  no  longer.  He  got  that  reputa- 
tion when  Rienzi  was  first  produced;  and  first  impres- 
sions being  hard  to  efface,  it  has  clung  to  him  ever  since. 
During  a  performance  of  Rienzi  one  is  inevitably 
reminded  of  the  Berliner  who  exclaimed  on  hearing  a 
military  band  in  the  street  immediately  after  witnessing 
one  of  Spontini's  operas,  "Thank  Heaven!  At  last  some 
soft  music ! " 


THE   FLYING   DUTCHMAN 

Tappert  quotes  from  an  interesting  letter  by  Laube 
to  Stage-manager  Moritz  of  the  Stuttgart  Opera  in  which 
these  sentences  occur :  "  Would  not  Wagner's  Rienzi  be 
something  for  you?  It  has  proved  immensely  successful 
in  Dresden  and  the  steam-cars  are  full  of  pilgrims  who 
come  to  see  it."  So  it  seems  that  with  Rienzi  already 
began  that  custom  of  making  pilgrimages  to  the  cities 
where  Wagner's  operas  were  first  or  best  performed, 
which  continued  subsequently  in  the  case  of  the  Flying 
Dutchman  and  Tannhduser  in  Dresden;  Lohengrin  in 
Weimar;  Tristan  and  Isolde  and  Die  Meistersinger  in 
Munich;  and  The  Nihelung's  Ring  and  Parsifal  iwViUj- 
reuth ;  a  custom  which  marks  a  distinct  innovation  in  the 
history  of  music  and  is  very  characteristic  of  the  whole 
AVagner  movement  —  an  eloquent  tribute  to  the  novelty 
and  grandeur  of  these  works,  which  attracted  even  those 
who  came  with  the  firm  determination  to  be  repelled  by 
them. 

The  success  of  Rienzi  was  still  more  emphasized  when, 
after  the  first  few  performances,  the  conductor's  baton 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Wagner  himself,  who,  of 
course,  was  much  better  qualified  to  bring  out  the  telling 
points  of  the  score  than  Keissiger.  No  wonder  that,  as 
already  noted,  the  Intendant  Liittichau  was  anxious  to 
follow  up  this  success  immediately  with  a  production  of 

115 


116  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

Wagner's  other  untried  score.  Thus  it  happened,  oddly 
enough,  that,  just  as  the  Flying  Dutchman  had  been  com- 
posed within  the  remarkably  short  time  of  seven  weeks, 
immediately  after  the  completion  of  Rienzi,  so  also  was 
it  fated  to  have  its  first  performance  within  ten  weeks 
after  that  of  Rienzi.  Such  a  sudden  change  in  the  for- 
tunes of  a  composer  who  had  up  to  that  time  knocked  in 
vain  at  innumerable  theatre  doors,  was  startling  enough : 
"I  who  had  hitherto  been  lonely,  deserted,  homeless, 
sudd^enTy  found  myself  loved,  admired,  by  many  even 
regarded  with  wonderment,"  he  exclaims;  and  the  situ- 
ation naturally  threw  him  into  a  state  of  happy  elation, 
and  nurtured  hopes  which,  as  he  found  before  long,  were 
not  to  be  fulfilled. 

"  I  gladly  accepted  the  offer  of  the  Dresden  director,"  he  relates 
(IV.  399),  "and  completed  the  rehearsals  in  a  short  time  without 
bothering  much  about  the  means  of  execution.  The  opera  seemed 
to  me  infinitely  easier  to  put  on  the  stage  than  the  preceding 
Rienzi,  the  scenic  arrangements  more  simple  and  intelligible.  The 
principal  male  role  I  almost  forced  on  a  singer,  who  had  sufficient 
experience  and  self-knowledge  to  feel  that  he  was  not  equal  to  his 
task.  The  performance  was,  in  its  main  features,  a  complete 
failure.  In  face  of  this  work  the  public  felt  all  the  less  inclined  to 
give  the  stamp  of  approval  because  the  style  itself  of  the  opera 
displeased  it,  since  it  had  expected  something  very  similar  to 
Bienzi,  and  not  something  entirely  opposed  to  it.  My  friends 
were  dismayed  at  this  result ;  they  seemed  anxious  to  obliterate 
this  impression  on  them  and  the  public  by  an  enthusiastic  resump- 
tion of  Rienzi.  I  myself  was  in  sufficiently  ill  humor  to  remain 
silent  and  to  leave  the  Flying  Dutchman  undefended." 

Although  the  failure  of  this  opera  was  chiefly  owing 
to  the  public  disappointment  in  not  finding  it  written 
d  la  Rienzi,  there  were  other  reasons  for  its  non-success. 


THE  FLYING    DUTCHMAN  117 

It  had  been  somewhat  hastily  and  carelessly  prepared, 
and  the  cast  was  not  of  the  best,  while  its  new  vocal  style 
offered  to  the  singers  difficulties  of  an  unwonted  kind,  and 
called  for  histrionic  qualities  which  they  did  not  possess. 
Schroeder-Devrient  alone  was  satisfactory ;  "  she  studied 
the  role  of  Senta,  and  impersonated  it  with  such  a  true 
creative  impulse  and  perfection  that  her  achievement 
alone  saved  this  opera  from  being  entirely  uncompre- 
liended  by  the  public,  and  even  aroused  the  most  demon- 
strative enthusiasm."  But  this  very  circumstance  was 
one  of  the  things  which  displeased  Wagner.  He  had 
hoped  that  his  opera  would  succeed  by  its  own  intrinsic 
merits,  whereas  now  it  seemed  to  be  a  prima-donna  opera, 
after  all ;  that  is,  dependent  for  its  success  on  the  art  and 
popularity  of  a  favorite  singer  —  for  the  time  being,  at 
any  rate. 

Perhaps  the  Flying  Dutcliman  might  have  been  saved 
even  under  these  circumstances  had  it  been  more  satis- 
factorily put  on  the  stage.  What  Wagner  thought  of 
its  staging  is  shown  in  this  extract  from  a  letter  to 
Fischer,  written  ten  years  later,  and  comparing  the  per- 
formance of  this  opera  under  his  own  direction  at  the 
small  and  humble  theatre  of  Zurich  with  that  at  the 
Royal  Dresden  Theatre :  — 

"Now  more  than  ever  have  I  realized  what  a  poor  performance 
of  tliLs  work  of  mine  Dresden  gave,  inasmuch  as  I  have  been  forced 
to  acknowledge  —  without  any  illusions  —  that  it  was  possible  even 
in  a  small  provincial  theatre  like  this  to  bring  about  a  thoroughly 
efficient,  and  therefore  effective,  performance.  When  X recall  what 
an  incredibly  awkward  and  wooden  setting  of  the  Fli/ing  Dritcli- 
man  the  imaginative  Dresden  machinist,_^llanel,  put_on  his  mag- 
nificent stage,  I  am  even  now  filled  with  retrospective  ra,ge.  Ilerrn 
Wachter's  and  Risse's  genial  and  energetic  efforts  are  also  faith- 


118  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

fully  stored  in  my  memory.  That  I  did  not  succeed,  during  my 
six  years'  royal  Capellmeistership,  in  reviving  this  opera  (with 
Mitterwurzer,  etc.)  and  getting  it  respected,  can  only  be  under- 
stood by  one  who  has  some  conception  of  what  a  Dresden  Court 
Theatre  is." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was  written  in  1852. 
To-day  Dresden  has  the  best-managed  opera-house  in 
Germany  and  the  best  performances  of  Wagner's  operas. 
Wagner  himself  heard  his  Flying  Dutchman  there  in 
1881,  and  expressed  his  special  satisfaction  with  the  new 
scenery  and  the  clever  manoeuvring  of  the  two  ships. 
But  for  exactly  ticenty  years  after  its  first  performances 
this  opera  was  not  heard  again  in  Dresden.  _  It  was 
brought  out  at  Cassel  five  months  after  the  Dresden. 
premih-e,  and  at  Berlin  in  1844;  then /or  exactly  ten  years 
thereafter  no  opera-house  at  all  produced  it!  In  Vienna 
it  was  not  heard  till  1860,  and  in  Munich  and  Stuttgart 
not  till  1864  and  1865,  and  Hamburg  till  1870;  so  slowly 
did  his  operas  travel  at  first!  But  the  times  have 
changed.  In  1883  both  Dresden  and  Berlin  gave  their 
hundredth  performance  of  the  Flying  Dutchman;  and 
during  the  operatic  year  1889-1890  it  was  given  101 
times  in  the  cities  of  Germany,  and  in  1890-1891,  129 
times :  which  shows  how  fifty  years  after  their  first  pro- 
duction Wagner's  early  operas  are  still  growing  in 
popularity. 

Old  people  are  constantly  complaining  of  the  irrever- 
ence of  our  young  people  of  to-day.  But  if,  as  the  Ger- 
mans quaintly  put  it,  "the  egg  considers  itself  wiser 
than  the  hen,"  is  this  not  because  the  hen  has  often  acted 
so  foolishly  ?  How  could  the  young  Dresdeners  who 
attended  the  hundredth  performance  of  the  Flying  Dutch- 


STORY  OF  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN         119 

man  in  1883  help  feeling  a  sense  of  superiority  over 
their  benighted  ancestors  who  had  so  miserably  failed 
to  see  the  poetic  aiid  musical  beauties  of  this  opera  that 
they  actually  allowed  it  to  disappear  after  the  fourth 
performance,  and  did  not  insist  on  hearing  it  again  till 
twenty  years  later?  Let  us  lirst  briefly  examine  this 
drama  and  its  music,  and  then  see  what,  apart  from  the 
long  neglect  after  its  first  performances  in  Dresden, 
Cassel,  and  Berlin,  was  the  nature  of  its  reception  by 
contemporary  critics  and  what  was  the  reason  of  this 
unjust  treatment. 

STORY   OF   THE   FLYING   DUTCHMAN 

The  preliminary  story  of  the  Flying  Dutchman's  doom, 
which  forms  the  "  exposition  "  of  the  play,  is  so  graphi- 
cally told  in  the  ballad  which  Senta  sings  in  the  second 
act  that  I  cannot  do  better  for  the  reader  than  quote 
Mr.  J.  P.  Jackson's  translation  of  it:  — 


"Yohohoe!     Yohohoe !     Yohohoel 
Saw  ye  the  ship  on  the  raging  deep  — 
Blood-red  the  canvas,  black  the  mast  ? 
On  board  unceasing  watch  does  keep 
The  vessel's  master,  pale  and  ghast ! 
Hui !    How  roars  the  wind  !  —  Yohohoe  f 
Hui !     How  bends  the  mast !  —  Yohohoe  ! 
Hui !     Like  an  arrow  she  flies, 
Without  aim,  without  goal,  without  rest ! 
Yet  can  the  weary  man  be  released  from  the  curse  infernal. 
Find  he  on  earth  a  woman  who'll  pledge  him  her  love  eternal. 
Ah  !     Where  canst  thou,  weary  seaman,  but  find  her  ? 
Ohj  pjay  to  Heaven  that  she 
Unto  death  may  faithful  be  1 


120  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

11. 

"Once  round  the  Cape  he  wished  to  sail 
'Gainst  'trary  winds  and  raging  seas ; 
He  swore  :  — '  the'  hell  itself  prevail, 
I'll  sail  on  till  eternity  ! ' 
Hui  !     This  Satan  heard  !     Yohohoe  ! 
Hui !    Took  him  at  his  word  !     Yohohoe ! 
Hui  I    And  accursed  he  now  sails, 
Through  the  sea,  without  aim,  without  rest ! 
But  that  the  weary  man  be  freed  from  the  curse  infernal. 
Heaven  shall  send  him  an  angel  to  win  him  glory  eternal. 
Oh,  couldst  thou,  weary  seaman,  but  find  her  ! 
Oh,  pray  that  Heaven  may  soon 
In  pity  grant  him  this  boon ! 

III. 

"At  anchor  every  seventh  year, 
A  wife  to  woo  he  wanders  round  ; 
He  wooed  each  seventh  year,  but  ne'er 
A  faithful  woman  has  he  found  ! 
Hui !    The  sails  are  set !     Yohohoe  I 
Hui !    The  anchor's  weighed  !    Yohohoe  ! 
Hui !    False  the  love,  false  the  troth  ! 


Thou  shalt  be  freed,  yea,  through  my  heart's  devotion! 
Oh,  that  God's  angel  guidance  gave  him  ! 
Here  he  shall  find  my  love  to  save  him  !  " 

Act  I.  The  stage  represents  a  wide  expanse  of  ocean. 
It  is  dark,  and  a  violent  storin  is  raging.  The  ship  of 
the  Norwegian  mariner  Daland  has  just  cast  anchor  near 
shore,  and  his  sailors  are  furling  up  the  sails  noisily. 
Daland  steps  ashore  and  climbs  a  rock  to  reconnoitre. 
He  finds  that  seven  miles  more  would  have  taken  him 
safely  into   his  harbor  and  home;   but  the  storm   has 


STORY  OF  TUE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN  121 

willed  that  he  should  not  embrace  his  daughter  Senta 
that  evening.  Patience  is  the  only  remedy,  and  after 
setting  a  watch  he  goes  into  his  cabin  to  sleep.  The 
steersman  keeps  watch  a  while,  sings  a  song  to  his 
sweetheart,  and  then  goes  to  sleep,  too.  The  storm 
begins  to  rage  again,  and  in  the  distance  the  Flying 
Dutchman's  ship,  with  blood-red  sails,  is  seen  approach- 
ing. Its  anchor  sinks  with  a  crash,  and  the  Dutchman 
steps  ashore.  The  seven  years  are  once  more  over,  and 
once  more  has  he  come  ashore  to  search  for  a  woman 
faithful  unto  death.  He  relates  in  most  pathetic  ac- 
cents, intensified  by  the  orchestral  discords  and  sombre 
coloring,  how  often  he  has  sought  death  by  plunging 
into  the  ocean's  depths,  by  steering  the  ship  against 
perilous  rocks,  by  exposing  his  treasures  to  the  greedy 
eyes  of  murderous  pirates  —  but  all  in  vain.  His  ex- 
pected release  through  a  woman's  faith  has  so  often 
disappointed  him  that  his  only  hope  now  is  in  the  Day 
of  Judgment,  when  all  the  world  will  fall  to  pieces. 
"  Anniliilation  be  my  lot "  are  the  last  words  of  his  mon- 
ologue; and  "annihilation  be  our  lot"  is  Aveirdly  re- 
echoed by  the  chorus  of  his  doomed  comjDanions  in  the 
hold  of  the  phantom  ship. 

Daland  reappears  on  the  deck  of  his  ship,  discovers 
the  Dutchman's  vessel,  and  chaffs  his  watchman  for  fall- 
ing asleep.  He  espies  the  Dutchman  and  greets  him 
with  a  seaman's  cordiality.  The  Dutchman  invokes  his 
liospitality  for  a  short  time,  and  promises  in  return  a 
share  of  his  treasures,  of  which  two  sailors,  at  his  com- 
mand, bring  ashore  a  box  as  a  sample.  "I  have  neither 
wife  nor  child  and  never  shall  I  find  my  home;  all  my 
wealth  shall  be  your  own,  if  you  will  take  me  to  your 


122  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

hearth."  Daland  is  delighted,  and  when  the  Dutchman 
asks  if  he  lias  a  daughter  and  is  willing  to  arrange  a 
marriage,  he  proves  no  better  than  most  simple-minded, 
money-loving  captains  would  under  the  circumstances, 
and  promises  that  Senta  shall  be  his.  The  storm,  mean- 
while, has  abated,  a  favorable  wind  is  blowing,  and 
Daland  takes  advantage  of  it  and  sails  ahead,  after  re- 
ceiving the  Dutchman's  promise  that  he  will  follow  at 
once. 

Act  II.  shows  us  a  large  room  in  Daland' s  house. 
Senta's  nurse,  Mary,  and  a  number  of  girls  are  sitting 
picturesquely  and  cosily  grouped  around  the  fireplace, 
spinning  and  singing  a  merry  chorus.  Seuta  sits  apart 
in  a  large  chair,  with  her  arms  folded  and  gazing  dream- 
ily at  a  picture  on  the  wall  representing  a  pale  man  with 
a  dark  beard  and  in  black  attire.  The  merry  song  of 
her  companions  does  not  interest  her;  it  jars  on  her 
mood,  and  she  scolds  them  for  it.  "Very  well,"  they 
reply,  "you  sing  us  something  better!"  Senta  complies 
and  sings  the  ballad  already  quoted  —  the  legend  of  the 
Flying  Dutchman,  at  whose  portrait  she  has  been  gazing 
so  long  that  her  soul  has  been  liypnotized  into  a  pity- 
ing love  of  the  unhappily  immortal  mariner.  At  the  con- 
clusion she  jumps  up  from  her  chair  and  exclaims,  with 
an  ecstatic  expression,  that  she  will  be  tne  woman  who  is 
to  release  him  through  her  faith.  While  Mary  chides 
her  for  this  folly,  and  threatens  to  remove  the  gloomy 
picture,  Erik,  a  young  huntsman,  comes  in  and  an- 
nounces that  Daland  will  soon  be  here.  Mary  and  the 
girls  go  to  prepare  a  feast  for  him  and  the  sailors,  and 
Erik  is  left  alone  with  Senta.  He  had  heard  the  con- 
clusion of  her  ballad,  and  her  vow  to  marry  the  Dutch- 


STORY  OF  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN  123 

man,  to  his  great  consternation,  for  he  had  believed  that 
Senta  loved  him  and  would  intercede  with  her  father  in 
his  behalf,  but  finds  now  that  she  has  pity  only  for  the 
doomed  mariner  and  none  for  him  and  his  disappointed 
love. 

In  despair,  he  leaves  her,  still  gazing  at  the  picture 
on  the  wall.  The  door  opens  and  in  comes  Daland 
accompanied  by  the  Dutchman.  At  sight  of  him  Senta 
cannot  suppress  a  shriek  of  astonishment,  and,  ignor- 
ing her  father,  she  gazes  on  the  guest  as  if  under  a  spell. 
Her  father  chides  her  for  her  cold  reception,  but  she 
has  only  one  thought,  —  "  Father,  who  is  the  stranger  ?  " 
Daland  smiles,  for  this  gives  him  a  chance  to  come  to 
the  point  at  once.  "  He  is  a  mariner, "  he  explains,  "  who 
has  won  rich  treasures  in  distant  lands  and  now  has  come 
to  woo  for  your  hand."  Then,  whispering  into  her  ears 
that  she  must  win  this  man,  as  such  a  chance  will  never 
recur,  he  leaves  them  alone  to  arrange  matters.  For  the 
first  time  the  Dutchman  feels,  at  sight  of  this  maiden, 
the  real  passion  of  love;  and  as  she  was  his  before  he 
had  arrived  in  person,  Daland,  on  returning,  finds  them 
ready  to  plight  their  troth. 

Act  III.  Scene :  a  bay  on  a  rocky  coast  near  Daland's 
house.  In  the  background,  and  not  far  apart,  are  the 
ships  of  the  Norwegian  and  the  Dutchman.  The  former 
is  gaily  illuminated  and  the  sailors  are  having  a  merry 
time.  In  gruesome  contrast  to  this,  the  phantom  ship 
preserves  a  deathly  silence  and  is  wrapt  in  unnatural 
darkness.  As  the  sailors  are  singing  and  dancing,  a 
group  of  girls  arrives  with  baskets  full  of  food  and  wine. 
At  first  they  ignore  the  chaffing  of  the  Norwegian  sailors, 
being  intent  on   serving  the   Dutchman's   crew  before 


124  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

them.  But  to  their  calls  and  offers  of  refreshment  there 
is  no  answer :  — 

"  They  do  not  drink  !  they  do  not  sing ! 
And  in  their  ship  there  burns  no  light ! " 

the  Norwegian  sailors  sing;  whereupon  they  join  the 
girls  in  a  half-mocking,  half-terrified  invocation  of  the 
phantom  ship's  crew  to  join  their  merry-making.  Sud- 
denly the  sea,  while  remaining  calm  everywhere  else, 
begins  to  rise  around  the  phantom  ship ;  blue  flames  play 
on  its  masts,  and  the  storm  wind  howls  through  the  cor- 
dage. The  crew  become  visible  and  sing  a  demoniac 
chorus,  taunting  their  absent  captain  with  his  ill-luck  in 
finding  a  faithful  woman :  "  Your  bride,  say,  where  she 
remains !     Hui,  on,  to  sea  again !  " 

As  a  boy  whistles  to  overcome  his  fear  in  the  dark, 
so  the  Norwegian  sailors  at  first  try  to  drown  the  noise 
of  the  phantom  crew's  chorus  and  the  horrible  storm 
which  rages  around  their  ship ;  but  as  this  only  intensi- 
fies the  tumult,  they  lose  heart,  make  the  sign  of  the 
cross  and  leave  deck  in  terror.  The  phantom  crew 
bursts  into  coarse,  mocking  laughter,  and  in  a  moment 
the  silence  of  death  again  comes  over  ship,  wind,  and 
ocean. 

Senta  comes  out  of  the  house,  followed  by  Erik ;  both 
are  greatly  agitated.  Erik,  in  despair,  implores  her  to 
reconsider  her  determination  to  marry  the  bridegroom 
her  father  has  brought.  Senta  replies  that  it  is  her 
duty,  and  that  she  cannot  see  Erik  again;  she  denies 
that  she  has  ever  pledged  her  faith  to  him;  whereupon 
he  recalls  the  time  and  scene  where  they  stood  by  the 
sea,  her  father  having  left  her  in  his  care ;  when  her  arm 


POETIC  AND  MUSICAL   CHAEACTEBISTICS     125 

was  around  his  neck  and  the  pressure  of  her  hand  surely- 
amounted  to  a  confession  of  love.  The  Dutchman,  unper- 
ceived,  has  approached,  and  heard  this  tale.  His  mind 
is  made  up  instantly.  Ignorant  of  the  depth  of  her  pas- 
sion, he  concludes  that  she  is  a  mere  coquette,  who  will 
play  with  his  love  as  she  has  played  with  Erik's.  All 
is  lost.  "  Farewell,  vSenta !  "  he  exclaims,  with  a  look  and 
tone  of  terrible  despair.  She  tries  to  retain  him,  and 
reassures  him  of  her  love,  but  he  whistles  to  his  crew  to 
weigh  the  anchor.  Then,  turning  to  her  once  more,  he 
tells  her  the  fate  from  which  he  is  about  to  preserve  her. 
Eternal  damnation  is  the  lot  of  all  who  have  betrayed 
him.  She,  however,  shall  be  saved  because  she  has  not 
yet  plighted  her  faithful  love  before  the  altar.  He 
points  to  his  ship  whose  blood-red  sails  are  being 
hoisted,  and  the  anchor  raised :  — 

"  The  oceans  of  all  zones  examine,  ask  the  seaman  who 
sails  on  these  oceans :  he  knows  this  ship,  the  terror  of 
the  pious:  the  Flying  Dutchman  I  am  called!"  With 
these  words  he  has  reached  his  vessel,  which  immediately 
sails  aAvay.  Senta  tears  herself  away  from  Daland  and 
Erik,  runs  to  a  projecting  rock,  and  plunges  into  the  sea. 
By  this  act  of  self-sacrifice  the  doomed  mariner  is 
released.  His  ship  falls  into  pieces  and  sinks  out  of 
sight,  while  Senta  and  the  Dutchman  rise  from  the  water 
heavenward,  transfigured. 

POETIC   AND   MUSICAL   CHARACTERISTICS 

A  sad  story  and  a  weird  one,  but  admirably  adapted 
for  the  purposes  of  a  music-drama;  and  one  which,  in 
some  form  or  other,  has  fascinated  poets  from  the  most 
remote  times.     The  Greek  legend  of  Ulysses  in  search 


126  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

of  wife  and  home,  and  the  Christian  legend  of  the  wan- 
dering Jew  are  variations  of  it.  Their  key-note  is  the 
longing  for  rest  after  the  storms  ofjife  -:-  such  a  longing 
for  home  as  Wagner  felt  when  Paris  had  refused  him  its 
artistic  hospitality.  It  was  this  symbolic  personal  ele- 
ment  in  the  legend  which  inspired  hjm  at  the  time  to 
such  a  degree  of  creative  ardor  that  in  composing— this. 
operaTTie  produced  a  new^form  of  the  music-dramaVr 

Among  the  poets  and  prose-writers  who  preceded 
him  in  the  use  of  his  weird  mythical  subject  are 
Hauff,  who  wrote  a  fairy  tale  of  a  phantom  ship,  and  Cap- 
tain Marry  at,  whose  novel  of  that  name  is  well  known. 
It  is  not  probable  that  he  knew  the  latter,  though  he  may 
have  borrowed  some  details  from  Hauff.  The  poet  to 
whom  he  was  chiefly  indebted  was  Heine,  who,  in  his 
Memoiren  des  Herrn  von  SchnabelewopsJci,  tells  about  a 
Flying  Dutchman  drama  given  at  Amsterdam,  in  which 
the  doomed  mariner  is  saved  by  a  woman  faithful  unto 
death.  According  to  Dr.  F.  Hueffer,  who  has  made  a 
special  study  of  this  matter,  it  was,  however,  more  prob- 
ably from  an  English  than  from  a  French  source  that 
Heine  obtained  the  outlines  of  this  legend :  — 

"The  two  most  striking  additions  to  the  old  story,"  he  says,i 
"in  Heine's  account  of  the  imaginary  performance,  are  the  fact  of 
the  Dutclmian's  taking  a  wife,  and  the  allusion  to  a  picture.  Both 
these  features  occur  in  a  play  by  the  late  Mr.  Fitzball,  which  at  the 
time  of  Heme's  visit  to  London  (in  1827)  was  running  at  the 
Adelphi  Theatre.  Adding  to  this  the  fact  that  the  German  poet 
conscientiously  studied  the  English  stage,  nothing  seems  more  likely 
than  that  he  should  have  adopted  the  features  alluded  to  from  the 
English  playwright.  Here,  however,  his  indebtedness  ends.  Fitz- 
ball knows  nothing  of  the  beautiful  idea  of  woman's  redeeming 

1  Richard  Wagner  in  the  "  Great  Musicians  "  Series,  p.  17. 


POETIC  AND  MUSICAL   CHARACTERISTICS 

love.  According  to  him,  the  Flying  Dutchman  is  the  ally  of  a 
monster  of  the  deep,  seeking  for  victims.  Wagner,  further  devel- 
oping Heine's  idea,  has  made  the  hero  himself  to  symbolize  that 
feeling  of  unrest^nd^ceaseless  struggle  which  finds  its  solution  in 
deat|L^aiiOoigetfiilness_alpne.  The  gap  in  Heine's  story  he  has 
filled  up  by  an  interview  of  Senta  with  Eric,  her  discarded  lover, 
which  the  Dutchman  mistakes  for  a  breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of 
his  wife,  till  Senta's  voluntary  death  dispels  his  suspicion."  ^ 

Wagner,  who  —  contrary  to  the  misrepresentations  of 
his  enemies  —  was  always  the  severest  critic  of  his  own 
works,  points  out  that  in  the  poem  of  the  Flying  Dutch- 
man there  is  much  that  is  indefinite ;  that  the  dovetail- 
ing of  the  situations  is  imperfect,  the  poetic  language 
and  verse  often  devoid  of  individual  traits.  I  consider 
this  judgment  altogether  too  severe,  and  I  prefer  to  agree 
with  Liszt  that  "  the  arrangement  and  conception  of  the 
text-book  betrays  in  itself  a  genuine  artist,  a  poet  by  the 
grace  of  God,  a  hand  of  which  every  line,  every  stroke 
of  the  pen,  rises  far  above  the  opera  texts  heretofore  known." 
What  I  have  always  admired  most  in  this  opera  is  not 
the  weird  ballad,  or  the  spinning  chorus,  or  even  the 
storm  scenes,  in  which  realism  verges  on  reality,  but  the 
quaint,  unique,  and  wonderful  responsive  choruses  in 
the  last  act,  concerning  which  Liszt  says :  — 

"Tlie  first  part  of  the  third  act,  where  the  Norwegian  women 
and  sailors,  gradually  overcome  by  terror,  invoke  the  phantom  ship, 
produces  by  its  versification,  as  it  colors  the  tliought  and  rhythmi- 
cally impresses  the  ear,  an  effect  similar  to  that  given  by  Hiirger's 
ballads,  which  till  the  heart  with  a  secret  tremor.  The  dialogue  is 
carried  on  in  distiches  ;  each  of  them  adds  one  more  shade  to  the 

1  Mr.  Ellis,  the  editor  of  The  Meister  (London,  1892),  has  written  a 
long  article  on  "A  Flying  Dutchman  Fallacy,"  in  which  he  disputes 
Dr.  Ilueffer's  "  Fitzball  Theory." 


128  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

fear-filled  darkness.     The  short  songs  and  ballads  rank  with  the 
best  of  their  kind  ever  created."  i 

Musically  this  scene  is  no  less  remarkable  than  it  is 
dramatically.  The  verses  are  not  only  intrinsically 
musical,  but  seem  to  demand  the  very  melodies  and  har; 
monies  wedded  to  them.  Liszt  points  out  how  one  of 
the  most  gruesome  effects  is  jjroduced.  After  the  girls 
have  invoked  the  crew  of  the  phantom  ship,  there  is  a 
sudden  awful  pause  in  the  orchestra,  which  has  been 
playing  in  C  major.  It  is  broken  by  a  scarcely  audible, 
deep,  long-drawn  chord  of  the  horns  in  a  key  as  remote 
as  possible  from  the  preceding  one  —  C  sharp  minor. 
This  uncanny,  ghostly  effect  is  repeated  three  times,  with 
increasing  terribleness.  It  is  one  of  those  numerous  pas- 
sages in  the  Flying  Dutchman  which  betray  the  born 
music-dramatist,  the  tone  poet,  who  was  to  surpass  all  his 
p^decessors  in  thp.  pmntiouni  realism  of  his  music. 

It  would  be  impossible,  without  writing  a  special  vol- 
ume on  this  opera  (Liszt  has  devoted  107  pages  to  it), 
to  note  all  the  places  which  would  repay  comment.  I 
have  dwelt  on  the  above  passage  because  it  has  been 
ignored  by  most  commentators,  who  have  followed  the 
crowd  in  heeding  chiefly  the  more  lyric  parts  of  the  score, 
including  the  spinning  chorus,  the  ballad,  the  steersman's 
song,  etc.  Now  these  are  undeniably  beautiful  pieces 
—  so  beautiful  that  they  prove  that,  if  Wagner  had 
chosen  to  continue  writing  music  of  that  kind,  he  would 
have  been  second  to  none.  But  they  are  not,  after  all, 
the  best  things  in  the  opera.  These  are  the  more  dra- 
matic parts  —  the  weird  responsive  choruses  above  re- 
ferred to,  the  Dutchman's  monologue  in  the  first  act 

1  Franz  Liszt,  Dramaturgische  Blatter,  II.  p.  234. 


POETIC  AND  MUSICAL    CHARACTERISTICS      129 

(when  sung  by  an  artist  like  Reiclimann),  the  duo 
between  him  and  Senta  in  the  second  act,  and  especially 
the  storm  music  of  the  first  and  last  acts,  of  which  Liszt 
has  given  such  an  eloquent  description  that  those  who 
read  French  or  German  can  at  least  feel  the  emotions 
inspired  by  this  opera  even  if  they  have  no  opportunity 
to  see  or  hear  it. 

It  is  in  considering  this  dramatic  side  of  the  Flyiyig 
Dutchman  that  we  can  best  realize  the  import  of  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  penned  by  Wagner  (Vol.  I.  pp.  2,  3) :  — 

"  So  far  as  my  knowledge  extendSj^I  can  discovfir  in  the  life  of 
no  other  artist  so  striking  a  change,  in  so  short  a  time,  as  took 
place  within  me  between  the  composition  of  Rienzi  and  the  Flying 
Dutchman,  the  first  of  which  was  hardly  ready  when  the  second, 
too,  was  almost  completed." 

Rienzi  is  simply  an  opera  of  the  old  type,  in  whic^h  thp. 
plot  aiid  the  verses  exist  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  ena- 
bling the"  composer  and  the  singers,  the  scene-painters  and 
stage  managers,  to  dazzle  the  public  with  a  mosaic  of 
anas,  choruses,  and  all  the  pomp  and  glitter  of  operatic, 
spectacle;  whereas  the  Flying  Dittchman  is  cmnusic-dramaA 
that  is,  a  piece  in  which  "the  plot^ahd'tlieliction  exist  lor 
their  own  sake,  while  the  .musician  merely  colors  the 
srtuation,^as  a  painter  does  his  sketch.  -Ja-th.e.  old- 
fashioned~operas  the  singers  were  expected  to  preserve 
merely  a  very  general  sort  of  correspondence  between 
their  actions  and  the  music,  whereas  in  the  Flying  Dutch- 
man Wagner,  in  writing  the  music,  began  the  method  of 
liaving  in  his  mind's  eye  tlie  gesture,  action,  and  facial 
expression  that  are  to  accompany  every  bar  of  the 
singer's  part,  in  harmony  with  the  orchestral  part, 
Even  among  Wagner's  admirers  there  are  many  who  are 


130  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

not  aware  to  what  an  extent  this  method  is  employed 
already  in  this  early  work.  They  should  read  the  ten- 
page  guide  to  the  performance  of  the  Flying  Dutchman 
in  Vol.  V.  of  his  Collected  Works.  By  way  of  example, 
he  devotes  three  pages  to  the  Dutchmari's  first  scene, 
beginning  as  follows :  — 

' '  While  the  trumpets  sound  their  low  notes  (B  minoi')  at  the 
close  of  the  introduction,  he  has  stepped  forward  over  a  plank 
placed  by  the  sailors  between  the  ship  and  a  rock  on  shore.  The 
first  note  of  the  ritornelle  of  the  aria  (the  low  E  sharp  of  the 
basses)  is  accompanied  by  the  first  step  of  the  Dutchman  on 
shore  ;  his  staggering  gait,  characteristic  of  seamen  when  they  first 
come  on  shore  after  a  long  voyage,  is  again  musically  accompanied 
by  the  wavy  movement  of  the  'cellos  and  violas  ;  the  first  quarter 
of  the  third  bar  coincides  with  his  first  step,  his  arms  being  always 
folded  and  his  countenance  lowered ;  the  third  and  fourth  steps 
concur  with  the  notes  of  the  eighth  and  tenth  bars,"  etc. 

Of  course  the  singer  is  not  expected  to  follow  all  these 
directions  slavishly :  they  are  rather  intended  as  hints  of 
the  general  method;  but  they  throw  a  flash  light  on  the 
method  itself,  which  is  something  new  in  operatic  prac- 
tice. At  the  same  time  it  must  be  borne  in  inind  that 
the  [new  method  is  not  consistently  employed  in  this 
opera ;  there*  are  exceptions  —  repetitions  of  verses,  and 
bits  of  trivial  ^^ggi'-Italian  cantilena,  both  in  the  vof^al 
and  orchestral  parts,  which  characterize  the  Flying  Dutcl 


man  as  a  transition  opexaJrom  the  old  to  the  new  style; 
and  we  shall  see  later  on  that  Tannliauser,  .aiKl_even 
Lohengrin,  bear  some  marks  of  tTris''gradual  change  from 
the  opera  to  the  perfected  music-drama. 


WAGNER'S   OPINION  OF  THIS   OPERA         131 


wagner's  opinion  of  this  opera 

Among  the  letters  to  F.  Heine  there  is  one  of  reniark- 
al)lr  interest  for  the  light  it  throws  on  this  important 
cuunge  in  Wagner's  artistic  method.  In  it  he  explains 
how  he  was  impelled  instinctively 

"to  allow  the  full  fragrance  of  the  old  tale  to  spread  itself  undis- 
turbed over  the  whole.  Thus  only  did  I  believe  that  I  could  chain 
the  audience  to  that  rare  mood  in  which,  provided  one  is  gifted 
with  some  poetic  sense,  even  the  gloomiest  of  legends  may  win 
one's  affection.  So,  also,  in  writhig^the  music,  I  could  not,  if  I 
would  realize  my  intentions,  look  right  or  left,  or  make  the  slight- 
est concession  to  modern  taste,  because  this  would  have  been 
both  inartistic  and  unwise.  The  modern  division  into  arias,  duets, 
finales,  etc.,  I  had  to  give  up  at  once,  and  in  their  place  relate  the 
legend  in  one  breath,  as  should  be  done  in  a  good  poem.  In  this 
manner  I  produced  an  opera  of  which  I  cannot  comprehend,  now 
that  it  has  been  performed,  how  it  could  have  pleased  ;  since  it  is, 
in  all  its  external  features,  so  utterly  unlike  what  is  now  called  an 
opera,  that  I  can  understand  how  much  I  asked  of  the  public,  — 
namely,  that  it  should  at  once  put  aside  all  that  had  hitherto  enter- 
tained and  gratified  it  in  an  opera.  That  this  opera,  nevertheless, 
made  many  friends  for  itself,  not  only  in  Dresden,  but  especially 
in  Cassel  and  Riga,  and  that  it  won  even  the  favor  of  the  public, 
appears  to  me  as  a  finger-sign  which  points  out  to  us  that  we  must 
only  write  just  as  our  inborn  German  poetic  feeling  dictates,  never 
making  concessions  to  foreign  taste,  and  simply  choosing  our  sub- 
jects and  treating  them  in  the  manner  which  most  gratifies  our- 
selves, in  order  to  be  sure  to  win  the  favor  of  our  countrymen.  In 
this  manner  we  may  also  once  more  secure  an  original  German 
operatic  .style  ;  and  all  who  despair  of  this  and  import  foreign 
models,  may  take  an  example  from  i\\\ii  Dutchman,  which  certainly 
Is  conceived  as  no  Frenchman  or  Italian  would  have  ever  con- 
ceived it." ' 


132  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

This  letter  alone  would  disprove  the  absurd  notion  that 
Wagner  "repudiated"  the  Flying  Dutchman.  I  have 
already  pointed  out  that  he  did  not  even  "  repudiate " 
Rienzi  in  the  sense  of  condemning  it  absolutely;  and  that 
he  was  still  farther  from  such  an  attitude  towards  the 
Flying  Dutchman,  is  proved,  in  addition  to  the  letter  just 
quoted,  by  the  Guide  to  its  correct  performance,  which 
he  wrote  many  years  later,  and  by  the  fact  that,  in  1852, 
—  nine  years  after  the  birth  of  the  opera, — as  well  as  at 
other  tinieg,  he  systematically  revised  the  score ;  and  in 
the  fifty-ninth  letter  to  Uhlig  he  explains  this  process 
and  what  led  him  to  do  it,  ending  with  this  paragraph : 

"  On  the  whole,  however,  this  work  has  again  greatly  interested 
me  ;  it  has  an  uncommonly  impressive  color,  most  definite  in  char- 
acter. It  is  curious  to  see  how  embarrassed  I  still  was  at  that 
time  in  the  use  of  musical  declamation  ;  and  the  operatic  style  of 

singing  (for  instance     I        ^    ^       !^  )  still  weighed  heavily  on 

my  imagination." 

The  reader  will  observe  with  what  charming  frankness 
Wagner  always  notes  his  own  weak  points,  as  well  as  the 
strong  ones.  The  same  is  true  of  his  judgments  of  other 
musicians,  as  we  shall  see  later  on;  yet  his  enemies  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  whole  world  believe  that  he  over- 
rated his  own  works  and  abused  all  the  great  composers 
of  the  past.  To  these  critics  we  must  now  attend  for  a 
moment. 

CRITICAL   PHILISTINES  1   AND   PROPHETS 

Wlien  Wagner  triumphantly  called  Ferdinand  Heine's 
attention  to  the  favor  his  new  opera  had  won  with  the 

1  What  is  a  Philistine  ?  Wagner,  in  liis  letters,  constantly  applies 
this  term  to  his  enemies,  and  it  is  well  known  that  Schumann  conceived 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS     133 

public,  and  based  thereon  hopes  for  the  future  of  a  new 
style  of  German  opera,  he  took  time  by  the  forelock  — 
very  much  so.  It  was,  indeed,  applauded  at  Dresden, 
and  its  author  called  before  the  curtain;  it  was  also 
given  at  Cassel,  at  Riga,  and  at  Berlin;  but  everywhere, 
after  a  few  performances,  it  disappeared  from  the  stage, 
not  to  be  revived  for  a  decade  at  any  German  theatre. 
The  public  evidently  found  it  too  much  of  a  mono- 
cluome  —  too  much  of  the  same  gloomy  color  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  and  too  void  of  the  usual  operatic  tinsel. 
But  it  was  not  the  public  that  was  to  blame  most  for 
Wagner's  disappointment  in  his  hopes  of  being  appre- 
ciated at  once  as  the  creator  of  a  new  style  of  German 
opera.  The  critics  were  at  fault.  What  is  the  highest, 
the  most  important  function  of  musical  criticism  ? 
Surely  not  to  chronicle  the  details  of  each  night's  per- 
formance, but  to  recognize  genius  in  its  germs  and  to 
foster  its  gro^\i;h  in  every  possible  way.     But  the  Ger- 

it  to  be  so  much  of  the  mission  of  his  life  to  comhat  pedantry  and  con- 
servative prejudice  in  music,  that  he  gave  to  many  of  his  critical  arti- 
cles a  semi-fictitious  form,  representing  them  as  the  opinions  of  several 
individuals  who,  together,  represented  the  cause  of  David  against  the 
Philistines  and  were  called  Davklsbundler.  In  English  literature  the 
term  Philistinism  was  first  formally  introduced  by  Matthew  Arnold,  in 
his  essay  on  Heine,  where  he  defines  it  as  "  inaccessibility  to  new  ideas," 
and  says:  "Philistinism  must  have  originally  meant,  in  the  mind  of 
those  who  invented  the  nickname,  a  strong,  dogged,  unenlightened 
opponent  of  the  chosen  people,  of  the  people  of  the  light.  The  party 
of  change,  the  would-be  remodellers  of  the  old  traditional  European 
order,  the  invokers  of  reason  against  custom,  the  representatives  of  the 
modern  spirit  in  every  sphere  where  it  is  applicable,  regarded  them- 
selves, with  the  robust  self-confidence  natural  to  reformers,  as  a  chosen 
people,  as  children  of  light.  They  regarded  their  adversaries  as  hum- 
drum people,  slaves  to  routine,  enemies  to  light ;  stupid  and  oppressive, 
but  at  the  same  time  very  strong."  Fetis  of  Paris,  Dr.  Hanslick  in 
Vieima,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett  in  London,  are  what  the  Germans 
would  call  Frachtexemplare  of  the  Philistine. 


134  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

man  critics,  with  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  did  exactly 
the  opposite.  They  abused  Wagner,  told  lies  about 
him  and  his  works,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  hum- 
bug the  public,  until,  after  many  years,  the  public  re- 
fused to  be  humbugged  any  longer  and  compelled  the 
unwilling  critics  to  capitulate  before  its  judgment  — 
to  follow  it,  instead  of  leading  it,  as  they  should  have 
done. 

The  opposition  began  with  Eienzi,  although  in  that 
case  it  was  less  violent  than  subsequently,  as  Rienzi, 
being  cut  after  the  fashionable  operatic  pattern,  did  not 
appear  to  the  critics  to  be  in  such  "  bad  form  "  as  the 
later  operas,  which  followed  Nature  instead  of  Fashion. 
Yet  even  Rienzi  had  its  enemies,  especially  in  Berlin, 
the  centre  of  German  intelligence  and  wit.  A  specimen 
of  this  "  wit  "  is  preserved  in  the  Musikalisch  Kritisches 
Repertorium  for  1844,  where  a  "  bright  and  clever  connois- 
seur "  is  quoted  as  saying  of  Rienzi,  "  one  step  further 
and  there  will  be  no  more  music."  Another  wit  varied 
this  joke  by  calling  Rienzi  "an  opera  without  music." 
Still  another  funny  Berliner  wrote  to  the  Leipzig  Sig- 
nale :  "  At  first,  people  crowded  to  Rienzi,  now  they  have 
to  be  driven  there  by  the  police !  It  has  been  suggested 
to  send  the  Polish  captives  to  Rienzi.  Mieroslawsky 
is  said  to  have  turned  pale  with  terror  when  he  heard  of 
this."  A  correspondent  of  tlie  Neue  Zeitschrift  filr  Musik 
ends  a  favorable  report  of  the  Rienzi  performance  in 
Berlin  with  these  words :  — 

"  Nevertheless  I  fear  the  opera  will  not  long  remain  in  the  rep- 
ertory ;  for  all  the  critics  are  up  in  arms  against  it,  the  Intendant 
is  not  friendly  to  Wagner,  the  King,  at  whose  command  the  opera 
was  given,  has  not  yet  seen  it,  Meyerbeer  left  the  city  in  great 
haste,"  etc. 


CRITICAL  PniLISTi:Ni:S  AND  PEOPHETS      135 

It  might  be  said  that  Eienzi  partly  deserved  this  fate, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  at  that  time  its  weak- 
nesses were  not  as  patent  as  they  are  now.  The  Flying 
Dutchman,  which  certainly  did  not  merit  such  treatment, 
fared  even  worse.  The  Signale  had  this  notice  from 
Dresden:  "Richard  Wagner's  second  opera  has  also 
created  a  furore  at  its  first  performance ;  all  the  papers 
agree  in  this.  To  us  somebody  has  written  tliat  it  is  the 
most  tedious  thing  he  has  ever  heard."  Herr  Tappert 
surmises  that  this  "  somebody  "  was  a  man  named  Schla- 
dabach  who,  it  seems,  had  a  sort  of  monopoly  for  supply- 
ing all  outside  papers  with  news  about  musical  matters 
in  Dresden  —  always  hostile  to  Wagner,  when  he  was  con- 
cerned. This  may  be  true,  but  the  foolish  and  mali- 
cious Schladabach  soon  found  numerous  imitators  and 
allies  in  all  parts  of  Germany  —  and  out  of  Germany. 
"  I  hear  everywhere  complaints  about  the  lack  of  agree- 
able melodies  that  can  be  retained  in  the  memory,  and 
about  the  too  heavy  orchestration,"  writes  a  correspond- 
ent of  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik  —  a  complaint  at 
which  every  schoolboy  will  smile  to-day.  The  Leipzig 
Signale,  at  that  time  a  leading  musical  paper,  sums  up 
the  Cassel  performance  in  two  lines:  "Wagner's  latest 
opera,  the  Flying  Dutchman,  has  been  given  at  Cassel. 
Two  imposing  ships,  which  sailed  across  the  stage  with 
marvellous  ease,  created  great  enthusiasm."  Of  the 
drama  and  the  music  not  a  word!  When  the  overture 
was  first  performed  in  IVIilan,  a  local  paper  called  it  "an 
infernal  racket";  and  a  French  critic,  Fiorentino,  was 
actually  made  "  seasick  "  by  it !  But  all  this  seems  mild 
compared  to  the  gentlemanly  remarks  of  a  writer  in  the 
London  Musical  World  more  than  a  decade  later. 


136  THE  FLYING   DUTCHMAN 

"This  man,  this  Wagner,  this  author  of  Tannhduser,  of  Lohen- 
grin, and  so  many  other  hideous  things,  — and,  above  all,  the  over- 
ture to  Der  FUegende  Hollaender,  the  most  hideous  and  detestable 
of  the  whole,  —  this  preacher  of  the  'Future,'  was  born  to  feed 
spiders  with  flies,  not  to  make  happy  the  heart  of  man  with  beau- 
tiful melody  and  harmony.  What  is  music  to  him  or  he  to  music  ? 
His  rude  attacks  on  absolute  melody  may  be  symbolized  as  matri- 
cide. .  .  .  Who  are  the  men  that  go  about  as  his  apostles  ?  Men 
like  Liszt,  madmen,  enemies  of  music  to  the  knife,  who,  not  born 
for  music,  and  conscious  of  their  impotence,  revenge  themselves 
by  endeavoring  to  annihilate  it,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  Vienna,  always  a  cliief  seat  of  critical  Philistinism, 
—  in  Vienna,  where  Schubert  was  allowed  to  die  so  poor 
that  his  brother  had  to  pay  the  funeral  expenses,  and 
where  Mozart  was  so  greatly  "  assisted  "  by  the  critics 
that  he  had  to  be  buried  in  a  pauper's  grave,  which  does 
not  exist  any  more,  — in  Vienna,  .the  leading  critic,  long 
since  professor  of  musical  history  at  the  University,  — 
Dr.  E.  Hanslick,  —  wrote,  as  late  as  1859,  regarding  the 
Flying  Dutchman :  "  Wherever,  in  this  opera,  the  de- 
scriptive element  does  not  prevail,  where  it  ceases  to  be 
'  marine '  and  begins  to  be  music,  Wagner's  weakness 
stands  fully  revealed:  his  poverty  of  invention,  and  his 
amateurish  method."  Does  not  the  spinning  song,  one 
of  the  most  universally  popular  melodies  ever  composed, 
afford  a  striking  proof  of  the  professor's  acumen!  It 
is  in  a  Vienna  paper,  too,  that  we  come  across  one  of 
the  first  AVagner  Prophets.  In  the  AUgemehie  Weiner 
Musikzeitung  of  1843  there  is  a  review  of  the  musical 
season  in  Dresden,  in  which  this  sentence  occurs :  "  Wag- 
ner's operas  have  proved  successful,  but  will  in  all  prob- 
ability not  remain  on  the  stage  long. "  Quite  so.  That 
was  in  1843,  and  in  1890-1891  these  two  operas  had  1G9 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS     137 

performances  in  Germany  and  Austria.  True,  fifty 
years  can  hardly  be  considered  "long,"  when  we  remem- 
ber that  nineteen  of  every  twenty  operas  live  only  a  year 
or  two,  while  of  all  operas  ever  composed  hardly  a  dozen 
have  survived  a  century. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Wagner  sent  his 
Dutchman  score  to  the  Royal  Opera  at  Munich,  before 
he  left  Paris,  it  was  returned  to  him  with  the  answer 
that  it  was  "not  adapted  to  German  taste."  Munich 
actually  waited  more  than  twenty  years  —  till  1864  — 
before  it  brought  out  this  opera,  and  then  not  till  King 
Ludwig  had  commanded  its  production.  Once  placed 
before  the  public,  it  soon  became  so  popular  that,  a  few 
years  ago,  it  reached  its  hundredth  performance  there, 
in  spite  of  the  severity  of  the  critics,  one  of  whom  wrote 
after  the  first  performance  that  "the  second  act  saved 
what  the  first  or  tliird  had  spoiled !  " 

An  amusing  reminiscence  of  the  first  Paris  episode  in 
Wagner's  life  may  be  found  in  Felix  Clement's  Dic- 
tionnaire  des  Operas,  d,  propos  of  the  same  opera. 
Speaking  of  Dietsch's  music  to  Wagner's  sketch,  he 
remarks,  "the  legend  which  furnished  the  subject  of 
this  work  is  so  bizarre  that  the  public  could  not  accept  it. 
Justice  was  nevertheless  rendered  to  the  music."  How 
is  it,  M.  Clement,  tliat  the  Vaisseau  Fantome,  with 
Dietsch's  music,  disappeared  forever  after  a  dozen  per- 
formances, while  with  Wagner's  music  it  still  has  almost 
a  hundred  and  fifty  performances  a  year  in  Germany 
alone  ?  We  shall  meet  some  of  our  brilliant  Critical 
Philistines  again  in  later  cliapters,  and  also  the  Wagner 
I'rophets,  who,  as  we  all  know,  are  still  "at  it  "  predict- 
ing his  speedy  collapse  in  spite  of  half  a  century  of  dis- 


138  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

appointments!     It  has  been  truly  said  that  man  is  a 
"  reasoning  animal. "     He  always  learns  by  experience ! 

BERLIOZ,    CORNELIUS,    LISZT,    AND    SPOHR 

Schumann,  in  one  of  his  tits  of  disgust  at  the  inability 
of  the  German  Critical  Philistines  to  recognize  the  gen- 
ius of  Chopin,  exclaims  that  criticism  always  lags  behind 
unless  it  emanates  from  creative  minds.  The  whole  his- 
tory of  Wagnerism  is  proof  of  this.  With  few  excep- 
tions, the  small  fry  of  criticism  were  bitterly  opposed  to 
it,  while  its  first  powerful  champions  were  men  of  crea- 
tive genius  —  Sj)ohr,  Liszt,  Cornelius,  Franz,  Raff,  and 
others.  Berlioz  was  one  of  the  first  men  of  genius  who 
heard  the  Flying  Dutchman,  and  while  finding  some 
things  to  criticise  in  it,  he  wrote  that  "  it  appeared  to  me 
remarkable  for  its  sombre  coloring  and  certain  stormy 
effects  perfectly  justified  by  the  subject."  Another  com- 
poser, whose  operas  are  only  just  beginning  to  win  their 
merited  popularity,  Peter  Cornelius,  — who  was  himself 
one  of  the  most  pitiable  victims  of  Critical  Philistinism 
which  allowed  him  to  die  under  persecution  and  with 
few  to  recognize  his  merits,  except  Liszt,  —  wrote  of  the 
Flying  Dutchman  that  it  was  the  first  opera  of  which  the 
poetry  and  the  music  were  conceived  at  the  same  time, 
each  conditioning,  limiting,  and  stimulating  the  other, 
thus  producing  a  higher  ideal  union. 

Liszt's  opinion  of  the  Flying  Dutchman  is  already 
known  to  the  reader.  One  more  of  the  critical  gems 
scattered  through  his  107-page  essay  on  this  opera  may, 
however,  be  quoted.  Of  the  overture,  which  our  British 
Philistine  found  so  "  hideous  and  detestable, "  Liszt  says : 
"  One  feels  tempted  to  exclaim,  as  in  looking  atTreller's 


BERLIOZ,  CORNELIUS,  LISZT,  AND  SPOHR    139 

marine  pictures,  '  It  is  wet  I '  One  scents  the  salt  breeze 
in  the  air.  .  .  .  One  cannot  escape  the  impressiveness 
of  tliis  ocean-music.  In  ricli,  picturesque  details  it  must 
be  placed  on  a  level  with  the  best  canvases  of  the  great- 
est marine  painters.  ISTo  one  has  ever  created  a  more 
masterly  orchestral  picture.  Without  hesitation  it  must 
be  placed  high  above  all  analogous  attempts  that  are  to 
be  found  in  other  musico-dramatic  works  "  —  including 
Mozart's  Idomeneo,  concerning  which  the  reader  will 
find  some  instructive  remarks  in  this  essay  of  Liszt's. 

But  it  was  not  only  representatives  of  the  "  new  school " 
that  found  delight  and  merit  in  Wagner's  opera.  The 
very  first  composer  who  appreciated  it  was  a  gentleman 
of  the  "old  school,"  the  venerable  Spohr.  At  the  age  of 
sixty -nine,  when  most  artists  —  especially  musicians  — 
are  deaf  to  new  impressions,  he  heard  the  Dutchman  at 
Dresden ;  and  how  much  he  was  impressed  by  it  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was  the  first  (after  Dresden) 
to  bring  it  out  (at  Cassel),  only  five  months  after  its  pre- 
miere. We  read  in  his  Autobiography  (Vol.  II.  p.  271) 
how,  after  perusing  the  text  of  this  opera,  he  declared  it 
"a  little  masterpiece,"  and  regretted  " not  having  had, 
ten  years  previously,  a  similar  and  equally  good  one  for 
my  own  composition."  To  his  friend  Liider,  whom  he 
invited  to  the  performance,  he  wrote:  — 

"This  work,  altliough  it  comes  near  the  boundary  of  the  new- 
rf)mantic  school  a  la  Berlioz,  and  is  giving  me  unheard-of  trouble 
with  its  immense  difficulties, ^  yet  interests  me  in  the  highest  degree 
since  it  is  obviously  the  product  of  pure  inspiration,  and  does  not, 

1  This  sounds  amusing  to-day.  What  would  Spohr  have  said  to 
Tristan  or  tlie  GdUerdcimmerinif/ .'  Tin;  italics  in  this  extract  are  my 
own.    Critics  and  professors  will  please  heed  them. 


140  THE  FLYING  DUTCHMAN 

like  so  much  of  our  modern  operatic  music,  betray  in  every  bar 
the  striving  to  make  a  sensation  or  to  please.  There  is  much  crea- 
tive imagination  in  it,  its  invention  is  thoroughly  noble,  and  it  is 
well  written  fur  the  voices,  while  the  orchestral  part,  though  enor- 
mously difficult,  and  somewhat  overladen,  is  rich  in  new  effects 
and  will  certainly,  in  our  large  theatre,  be  perfectly  clear  and  intel- 
ligible. At  the  end  of  this  week  the  rehearsals  will  begin  in  the 
theatre,  and  my  curiosity  is  greatly  aroused  as  to  how  the  fantastic 
subject,  and  the  still  more  fantastic  music,  will  impress  me  on  the 
stage.  In  so  far  I  think  my  judgment  is  already  clearly  fixed,  that 
I  consider  Wagner  as  the  most  gifted  dramatic  composer  of  the 
time.-  His  aims  in  this  work  are  at  any  rate  noble,  and  that  tells 
in  these  times  where  everything  seems  to  be  calculated  to  produce 
a  sensation  or  to  tickle  the  ears  of  the  vulgar." 

Now  we  all  know  that  Wagner  was  ever  a  most  ungrate- 
ful wretch  —  for  have  we  not  been  told  so  a  thousand 
times?  What  did  he  do  after  these  demonstrations  of 
friendship  on  the  part  of  Spohr,  who,  besides,  wrote  to 
Wagner  —  who  had  never  even  asked  him  to  bring  out 
his  opera  —  a  letter  in  which  he  expressed  his  pleasure 
at  coming  across  a  young  composer  who  showed  in  every- 
thing he  did  that  he  took  a  serious  view  of  art?  In 
reply  to  all  this,  what  did  Wagner  do  when  he  heard  that 
his  opera  had  been  well  given  and  favorably  received? 
He  wrote  Spohr  an  enthusiastic  letter  of  thanks  in  which 
he  congratulated  himself  on  having  found  in  the  vener- 
able master  a  champion  who  took  hold  of  his  cause  with 
such  superior  intelligence,  energy,  and  good  will ;  adding 
that  these  qualities  in  a  conductor  were  even  more  impor- 
tant to  the  success  of  an  opera  than  the  best  singers.  And 
in  1860,  when  Wagner  heard  of  Spohr 's  death,  he  added 
insult  to  injury  by  writing  a  eulogy  of  him  in  which  he 
lamented  the  "rich  endowment,  power,  and  noble  pro- 


WHAT  BEETHOVEN    WOULD   HAVE  SAID     141 

ductivity  "  that  had  passed  away  with  one  who  was  "  the 
last  of  those  noble,  serious  musicians  whose  youth  was 
still  illuminated  by  the  direct  rays  of  Mozart's  sun." 

"  He  was  a  serious,  honest  master  of  his  art ;  the  maxim  of  his 
life  was  belief  in  his  art ;  and  his  keenest  enjoyment  sprang  from 
the  strength  of  this  faith.  This  serious  faith  made  him  free  from 
every  personal  pettiness ;  whatever  was  unintelligible  to  him,  he 
left  alone  as  foreign  to  his  nature,  without  opposition  or  persecu- 
tion. That  was  the  so-called '  coldness  and  inaffability '  with  which 
he  was  often  reproached."     (See  Vol.  V.  p.  135,  etc.) 

If  the  reader  is  a  pessimist  by  nature,  he  will  per- 
haps reply  that  this  eulogy  of  Spohr  was  merely  written 
by  way  of  retaliation  for  the  services  rendered  him  by 
that  master.  But  if  he  will  read  on,  he  will  discover  in 
our  very  next  chapter  what  Wagner  thought  of,  and  did 
for,  four  great  masters  who  were  either  dead  when  he 
was  born,  or  died  while  he  was  a  child,  —  Bach,  Gluck, 
Weber,  and  Beethoven. 

WHAT   BEETHOVEN   WOULD    HAVE   SAID 

Beethoven  died  when  Wagner  was  fourteen;  indeed, 
it  was  the  news  of  Beethoven's  death  that  first  called 
Wagner's  attention  to  his  music,  of  which  he  subse- 
quently became  such  a  fanatical  admirer  and  champion 
that,  as  we  have  seen,  Heine  remarked  of  him  jocularly 
that  he  even  had  "  friend  of  Beethoven  "  printed  on  his 
visiting-card.  Would  Beethoven  have  returned  this  ad- 
miration? Would  he,  for  example,  have  approved  of  the 
wild  and  dissonant  storm  music  which  makes  up  such  a 
great  part  of  the  Flying  Dutchman  score?  I  say  boldly 
that  he  would ;  and  I  base  this  assertion  on  the  attitude 


142  THE  FLYING   DUTCHMAN 

which  he  assumed  toward  Weber's  Freischiitz,  which, 
with  its  gruesome  Wolf's-Glen  music,  was  at  first  consid- 
ered very  ''  Wagnerian  "  (so  to  speak)  by  the  critics,  one 
of  them,  the  poet  Tieck,  going  so  far  as  to  declare  it 
"the  most  unmusical  noise  that  ever  raged  on  a  stage." 
What  Beethoven  thought  of  these  "  Wagnerian  "  scenes 
in  the  Freischiitz  may  be  read  in  Max  Maria  von  Weber's 
admirable  biography  of  his  father  (Vol.  II.  p.  509) :  — 

"  The  profound  originality,  which  of  course  did  not  escape  him, 
made  a  deep  impression  on  him,  and  he  exclaimed  in  presence  of 
his  friends,  striking  the  score  with  his  fist :  '  The  usually  so  gentle 
little  man,  —  I  should  not  have  considered  him  capable  of  such  a 
thing!  Weber  must  now  write  operas,  nothing  but  operas,  one 
after  the  other,  and  without  many  scruples.  That  Caspar,  the 
monster,  stands  there  like  a  house.  Wherever  the  devil  puts  in 
his  paws,  we  are  sure  to  feel  them.'  And  when  somebody  recalled 
the  second  finale,  and  the  musically  unheard-of  things  therein,  he 
exclaimed  :  '  Yes,  that  is  quite  so  ;  but  the  effect  on  me  is  absurd, 
I  can  see  of  course  what  Weber  is  after,  but  he  certainly  has  written 
devilish  stuff  here.  When  I  read  it,  —  as  at  the  Wild  Hunt,  —  I 
have  to  laugh,  and  yet  I  feel  that  it  is  the  right  thing,  —  und  es 
wird  dock  das  Jiechte  sein ! '  And  deeply  agitated,  he  added, 
'■  Such  a  thing  must  be  heard  —  07ily  heard,  but  as  —  I  — '  " 

Poor  deaf  Beethoven !  But  the  critics  —  who  had  no 
lack  of  ears  —  what  did  they  do  for  Weber,  next  to  Wag- 
ner the  greatest  dramatic  composer  Germany  has  pro- 
duced? Instead  of  conscientiously  studying  the  score 
of  his  immortal  Euryanthe  and  explaining  its  beauties  to 
the  public,  they  dubbed  it  Ennyanthe,  and  attacked  it  so 
savagely  that  it  proved  a  financial  failure;  and  poor 
Weber,  who  was  ill  with  consumption,  had  to  accept  an 
offer,  against  his  conscience,  to  write  an  opera  for  London 
in  order  to  leave  a  small  sum  for  his  family  after  death. 


WHAT  BEETHOVEN    WOULD  HAVE  SAID     143 

He  knew  it  would  kill  him  — and  it  did;  but  the  critics 
had  had  their  joke  about  Ennyanthe,  and  the  public  its 
laugh,  and  that  was,  of  course,  the  main  thing.  Subse- 
quently Euryanthe  was  recognized  as  a  great  masterwork. 
Did  this  teach  the  critics  a  lesson?  or  did  any  one  of 
them  have  the  humility  of  Beethoven,  to  exclaim,  when 
anything  struck  him  as  "devilish  stuff";  "and  yet  it 
must  be  the  right  thing  "?  The  answer  will  be  found  in 
this  book,  passim;  for  the  critical  farce,  like  history, 
repeats  itself  after  the  appearance  of  each  new  opera  by 
Wagner,  without  exception. 


WAGNER   AS   ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

It  was  with  Weber's  Euryanthe  that  the  new  opera- 
house  in  Dresden  had  been  opened  on  April  12,  1841 ;  and 
it  was  with  the  same  opera  that  Wagner  chose  to  be  tried 
as  an  applicant  for  the  position  of  royal  conductor,  on 
Jan.  10,  1843,  It  seemed  as  if,  with  his  return  to  Dres- 
den, fortune  had  begun  to  smile  on  him  perpetually. 
Not  only  was  his  Rienzi  brought  out,  and  triumphantly 
successful;  not  only  was  this  immediately  followed  by 
the  demand  for  the  Flying  Dutchman;  but  it  happened 
most  opportunely  that  just  about  this  time  two  men  who 
were  associated  with  Reissiger  in  supervising  the  per- 
formances at  the  Eoyal  Opera,  Morlacchi  and  Rastrelli, 
died  in  rapid  succession.  Now,  since  Wagner  had  not 
only  become  the  hero  of  the  day  with  his  two  operas,  but 
had  shown  his  rare  ability  as  a  conductor  in  presiding 
over  their  rehearsals  and  public  performances,  what  more 
natural  than  that  he  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  proper 
and  desirable  colleague  to  Reissiger? 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  did  not  at  once  embrace 
this  plan  with  the  eagerness  that  might  have  been 
expected.  He  remembered  his  toilsome  and  tiresome 
experiences  as  conductor  at  Magdeburg,  Konigsberg,  and 
Riga,  followed  by  his  disappointments  regarding  operatic 
affairs  in  Paris.  He  knew  that  he  would  have  to  spend 
his  days  and  nights  in  preparing  and  conducting  operas 
144 


WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR  145 

most  of  which  he  detested  for  their  lack  of  artistic  value 
and  shallow  brilliancy;  and  in  his  secret  heart  he  may 
have  shared  the  belief  of  a  Dresden  correspondent  that  it 
was  not  desirable  to  make  a  man  of  his  creative  capacity 
waste  his  time  in  rehearsing  operas.  His  friends,  how- 
ever, could  not  appreciate  such  reasons;  and,  yielding  to 
their  advice  and  to  the  natural  desire  of  his  wife  to  have 
at  last  a  regular  and  respectable  income,  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  try  for  the  vacant  place. 

"There  were  many  applicants  besides  Wagner.  As  possible 
successors  to  Morlacclii  only  Glaser  and  Wagner  were  taken  into 
consideration.  The  former  wished  to  have  the  same  rank  as  Reis- 
siger,  while  the  composer  of  Rienzi  at  first  appeared  to  be  satisfied 
with  the  title  of  music-director  and  a  salary  of  1200  thaler  (§900). 
The  Intendant  von  LUttichau  recommended  him  urgently.  Wag- 
ner afterwards  produced  weighty  considerations  with  which  he 
succeeded  in  securing  an  appointment  to  a  full  Kapellmeistership,i 
at  a  salary  of  §1125." 

Almost  a  year  had  elapsed  between  Wagner's  arrival 
in  Dresden  and  his  appointment  as  Royal  Conductor. 
For  six  years  he  occupied  that  position,  and  the  most 
important  artistic  fruits  of  this  period  were  the  scores  of 
Tannhduser  and  Lohengrin,  the  first  of  which  was  per- 
formed on  Oct.  19,  1845,  while  Lohengrin  was  reserved 
for  a  different  fate.  But  before  considering  these  two 
operas  it  will  be  well  to  dwell  on  some  minor  composi- 
tions of  this  period,  and  on  Wagner's  activity  as  a  con- 
ductor. 

1  This  version  of  the  affair,  given  by  Tappert  (p.  24),  differs  some- 
what from  Glasenapp's  (Vol.  I.  pp.  150-154). 


146  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 


THE  LOVEFEAST   OF   THE   APOSTLES 

After  overcoming  the  scruples  which  he  had  at  first 
entertained  in  regard  to  a  resumption  of  theatrical 
life,  he  entered  on  his  duties  with  joy  and  pleasant 
anticipations  of  the  fine  performances  he  would  be  able 
to  give  with  the  excellent  artists  then  gathered  at  the 
Dresden  Opera,  and  also  in  the  concert  rooms.  He 
was  installed  on  Feb.  2,  and  his  first  official  act  was  to 
assist  Berlioz  at  the  rehearsals  for  the  concerts  he  was 
about  to  give  in  Dresden  —  "  which  he  did  with  zeal  and 
the  greatest  good-will, "  —  avec  zUe  et  de  tr^s  bon  coeur, —  as 
Berlioz  himself  wrote  at  the  time ;  ^  adding  that  Wagner 
was  "a  young  artist  of  precious  endowments.  R.  Wag- 
ner, besides  his  twofold  talent  as  man  of  letters  and 
composer,  possesses  also  that  of  an  orchestral  conductor. 
I  have  seen  him  conduct  his  operas  with  rare  precision 
and  energy." 

Although  the  duties  of  a  royal  Kapellmeister  might 
have  seemed  sufiiciently  arduous,  since  there  were  three 
or  four  operas  to  be  rehearsed  and  performed  each  week 
by  the  two  conductors,  Wagner  still  found  time  to  engage 
in  various  concert  enterprises.  He  accepted  the  leader- 
ship of  the  Liedertafel,  a  vocal  society  presided  over  by 
Dr.  Lowe ;  and  for  a  festival  that  was  to  be  given  in  the 
summer  of  1843  he  composed  the  Love  Feast  of  the 
Apostles,  a  biblical  scene  for  three  choirs  of  male  voices 
and  orchestra.  Wagner  rarely  was  at  his  best  when  he 
wrote  for  the  concert  hall,  and  this  piece  is  no  exception 

1  How  shamefully  he  requited  this  service  in  1861,  when  Wagner  so 
greatly  needed  a  friend  in  Paris,  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter. 


WEBER'S  BEMAINS  147 

to  the  rule.  Its  especial  significance  lies  in  the  origi- 
nality of  its  conception  and  the  manner  in  which  the  born 
opera-composer  is  revealed  even  in  a  concert  piece  like 
this.  For  more  than  half  an  hour  the  apostles,  dejected 
by  the  Saviour's  death,  sing  alone,  without  accompani- 
ment, when  suddenly,  with  the  words  of  the  apostles, 
••  Wliat  murmuring  fills  the  air?  What  sounds,  what 
strains?"  the  orchestra  comes  in  and  illustrates  the 
words  with  a  most  thrilling  effect.  Nor  was  this  the 
only  theatrical  effect.  Another  one,  quite  as  remark- 
able, which  was,  many  years  later,  adopted  in  Parsifal, 
was  the  placing  of  forty  select  voices  in  the  lofty  cupola 
of  the  church,  which  produced  a  magic  impression  on 
every  one  —  except,  of  course,  the  critics,  one  of  whom 
asserted  that  Wagner  could  not  even  write  grammatically 
correct  music  (he  was  at  that  time  at  work  on  Tann- 
hduser!)  and  that  if  his  teacher  Weinlig  (to  whose  widow 
this  composition  was  dedicated),  could  have  heard  it,  he 
would  have  turned  in  his  grave!  ^ 

WEBER's    remains   transferred   to   DRESDEN 

In  securing  Wagner  as  its  leader,  the  Liedertafel  not 
only  got  hold  of  the  best  conductor  it  could  have  found 

1  More  detailed  descriptions  of  tliis  composition  may  be  found  in 
Hanslick's  Aus  clem  Concertsaal,  p.  314,  and  Noufllard's  B.  Wagner,  p. 
172.  That  Wagner,  in  1852,  thought  well  of  this  work  is  Indicated  by 
this  passage  in  a  letter  to  Liszt:  "It  is  really  incomprehensible  to  me 
that  our  numerous  vo(^al  societies  have  not  yet  produceil  my  Love  Feast 
of  the  Apostles.  ...  In  a  large  hall  and  with  a  large  chorus,  you  can 
easily  leave  the  instrumentation  as  it  is.  Only  let  me  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  I  was  compelled,  in  Dresden,  after  certain  main 
divisions  of  the  work,  to  indicate  the  pitch  again  by  means  of  two 
harps :  the  larger  a  chorus,  the  more  inevitably  it  flattens  from  time  to 
time." 


148  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

in  Germany,  but  gained  a  most  ardent  champion  for  a 
cause  which  it  had  much  at  heart ;  namely,  the  project  of 
transferring  the  ashes  of  Weber  from  London  to  Paris. 
A  traveller  had  reported  that  the  plain  coffin  which 
contained  Weber's  remains  had  been  stored  in  such  a 
careless  way  in  the  vaults  of  St.  Paul's,  that  there  was 
danger  that  it  might  before  long  be  unrecognizable. 
This  aroused  a  project  in  Germany  to  reclaim  the  coffin 
and  bury  it  in  German  soil.  Several  concerts  had  been 
given,  one  by  the  Liedertafel,  but  the  necessary  funds 
had  grown  so  slowly  that  there  was  danger  that  the  pro- 
ject would  have  to  be  abandoned.  Wagner's  appoint- 
ment to  a  leading  musical  position  brought  new  hopes. 
It  was  known  that  he  was  an  almost  fanatic  admirer  of 
Weber,  who  would  be  sure  to  throw  his  whole  soul  into 
the  undertaking,  and  so  he  did.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  was  to  secure  a  performance  at  the  Opera  for  the 
benefit  of  the  scheme;  but  peculiar  difficulties  stood  in 
the  way.  At  first  it  was  given  out  that  the  King  felt 
religious  objections  to  such  a  disturbance  of  the  dead; 
then  the  royal  director,  von  Liittichau,  tried  to  persuade 
Wagner  of  the  impracticability  of  the  scheme.  Why 
should  Weber,  in  particular,  be  honored  in  this  manner? 
Given  such  a  precedent,  would  not  the  widows  of  other 
royal  conductors,  of  Morlacchi  or  Reissiger,  be  justified 
some  day  in  bringing  similar  claims?  Wagner's  attempt 
to  make  clear  the  difference  between  these  cases  was  per- 
haps less  decisive  than  the  argument  that  other  opera- 
houses  had  given  such  benefit  performances,  including 
one  under  Meyerbeer  at  Berlin,  which  netted  2000  thalers, 
and  that  it  would  therefore  be  disgraceful  for  Dresden 
not  to  do  the  same  honor  to  its  own  great  former  Kapell- 


WEBER'S  REMAINS  149 

meister.  This  had  its  proper  effect;  and  with  the  funds 
derived  from  these  performances,  Weber's  oldest  son 
could  at  last  be  sent  to  London  to  bring  over  the  coffin. 

He  returned  with  it  on  Dec.  14,  1844,  and  the  Ger- 
mans, according  to  their  usual  custom,  tried  to  atone 
by  their  homage  to  the  dead  for  the  neglect  and  vitupera- 
tion which  alone  they  have  for  a  living  genius.  A  grand 
■  torchlight  procession  was  arranged,  followed  by  the  rela- 
tions and  friends  of  Weber,  by  members  of  musical  soci- 
eties, and  a  vast  crowd  of  spectators.  The  funeral  march 
for  the  occasion  had  been  arranged  by  Wagner  from  two 
Euryanthe  motives  for  eighty  wind-instruments.  The 
weird  tremolos  of  the  violas  in  the  thrilling  tomb-motive 
he  arranged  for  twenty  muted  drums  playing  pianissimo; 
and  the  effect  of  the  whole  was  so  impressive,  so  appro- 
priate, and  peculiarly  reminiscent  of  Weber,  that  Schroe- 
der-Devrient,  who  had  known  him  personally,  declared 
she  had  never  witnessed  a  ceremony  in  which  the  means 
were  so  successfully  adapted  to  the  end;  and  other 
witnesses  who  had  watched  the  procession  from  their 
windows,  declared  to  Wagner  that  the  effect  was  grand 
beyond  expression.  Thus  did  Wagner  manifest  his 
dramatic  genius  in  life  as  in  art;  and  in  order  that  this 
real  ceremony  might  not  be  less  impressive  and  perfect 
than  a  stage  performance,  he  made  the  musicians  learn 
their  parts  by  marching  across  the  stage  at  the  last 
rehearsal. 

When  the  coffin  arrived  at  the  chapel  of  the  Catholic 
cemetery,  Schroeder-Devrient  placed  a  wreath  on  it,  and 
Wagner  delivered  a  funeral  address.  Weber's  poor 
widow  had  just  lost  her  youngest  son,  aged  twenty. 
Wagner  made  a  pathetic  allusion  to  him  as  having  been 


150  WAGNER   AS  ROYAL    CONDUCTOR 

fated  to  convey  to  the  manes  of  his  father  the  message 
of  his  countrymen's  love,  and  then  continued :  — 

"  So  the  Englishman  now  does  you  justice,  the  Frenchman  ad- 
mires you,  but  the  German  alone  can  love  you ;  you  are  his  own, 
a  beautiful  day  from  his  life,  a  warm  drop  of  his  blood,  a  piece  of 
his  heart ;  who  shall  blame  us  if  we  wished  that  your  ashes,  too, 
should  be  a  part  of  the  dear  German  soil  ?  Never  has  there  been 
a  more  German  musician  than  you.  Wherever  your  genius  bore 
you,  into  whatever  distant,  bottomless  realm  of  fancy,  always  still 
did  it  remain  chained  with  a  thousand  fibres  to  the  heart  of  the 
German  people,  with  which  he  wept  and  laughed,  like  a  credulous 
child  when  it  listens  to  the  legends  of  fairy  tales  of  home." 

This  was  the  first  public  address  that  Wagner  ever 
made,  and  the  only  one  in  which  he  did  not  speak  extem- 
pore. He  relates^  a  curious  psychologic  phenomenon 
which  occurred  during  its  delivery :  — 

"As  I  was  completely  filled  with  my  subject  and  the  way  I 
intended  to  treat  it,  I  felt  so  sure  of  my  memory  that  I  had  taken 
no  precautions  for  an  accident,  whereby  I  gave  my  brother  Albert, 
who  stood  near  me,  a  moment  of  great  perplexity,  as  he  confessed 
that,  deeply  impressed  as  he  was,  he  could  not  help  confounding 
me  for  not  giving  him  the  manuscript  to  prompt  with.  For  it  hap- 
pened that,  after  I  had  begun  my  speech  with  a  distinct  and  full 
voice,  I  was  for  a  moment  so  strongly  affected  by  the  almost  start- 
ling effect  which  my  own  voice,  its  sound  and  accents,  made  on 
me,  that,  as  in  a  trance,  I  imagined  that  I  not  only  heard  but  saw 
myself,  facing  the  silent  audience  ;  and  by  thus  placing  myself  as 
an  object  before  myself  I  assumed  a  state  of  intense  expectation  of 
what  was  to  come,  just  as  if  I  were  not  the  same  man  that  stood 
there  as  speaker.  No  fright  or  aberration  of  attention  accompa- 
nied this  state ;  only  there  was  such  a  disproportionately  long 
pause  that  whoever  saw  me  musing  with  absent  stare  could  not 
know  what  to  think  of  me.     At  last  my  silence  and  the  breathless 

1  Gesammelte  Schriften,  Vol.  II.  pp.  59,  60. 


A  SURPRISING  BEETHOVEN  PERFORMANCE     151 

stillness  about  me  recalled  me  to  the  fact  that  I  was  there  to  speak 
and  not  to  listen  ;  immediately  I  proceeded  and  spoke  my  address 
to  the  end  so  fluently  that  the  famous  actor,  Emil  Devi'ient,  assured 
me  subsequently  that  he  had  been  marvellously  impressed,  not 
only  as  a  spectator  of  the  touching  funeral  ceremonies,  but  also, 
and  especially,  in  his  capacity  as  a  dramatic  orator." 

The  ceremonies  were  brought  to  a  close  by  the  sing- 
ing of  a  poem  especially  written  and  composed  for  the 
occasion  by  Wagner.  Nor  did  his  efforts  cease  here. 
Having  brought  back  Weber,  it  remained  to  build  him  a 
worthy  monument,  for  which  a  place  had  been  selected 
near  the  opera-house.  If  the  reader  will  look  over  the 
second  and  third  letters  of  the  Wagner-Liszt  correspond- 
ence, he  will  find  that  they  are  eloquent  appeals  for 
the  assistance,  in  this  matter,  of  the  generous  pianist, 
through  whose  efforts,  mainly,  the  Beethoven  monument 
had  first  been  made  possible. 

A   SURPRISING   BEETHOVEN   PERFORMANCE 

Half  a  century  ago  subscription  concerts  were  not  so 
customary  in  German  cities  as  they  are  now.  Besides 
playing  at  the  opera  and  in  the  church,  the  royal  orches- 
tra of  Dresden  gave  a  public  performance  only  once 
a  year,  for  the  benefit  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
former  members.  It  was  customary  on  these  occasions 
to  produce  an  oratorio  and  a  symphony,  which  were 
conducted  in  rotation  by  the  two  Kapellmeisters.  For 
the  concert  in  1846  Keissiger  had  charge  of  the  oratorio, 
while  the  symphony  was  in  the  hands  of  Wagner,  who 
selected  Beethoven's  Ninth.  Thereat  great  consterna- 
tioiiluTrong-the  members  of  the  orchestra,  who  were  so 
alarmed  that  they  actually  sent  a  deputation  to  General- 


152  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

Director  von  Liitticliau,  begging  him  to  use  his  authority 
in  preventing  Wagner  from  carrying  out  his  nefarious 
and  reckless  plan! 

But  what  was  there  so  very  alarming  in  Wagner's 
decision  to  perform  Beethoven's  Ninth  Symphony?  The 
answer  to  his  question  throws  a  brilliant  light  on  the 
taste  and  actions  of  the  kind  of  musicians,  conductors, 
and  critics  who  at  that  time,  as  later,  were  Wagner's 
determined  enemies. 

At  that  time  the  conservatives  among  the  professional 
musicians  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  understanding  the 
"real  Beethoven";  that  is,  the  compositions  of  his  third 
period.  These  works,  which  are  now  considered  the 
grandest  of  all,  were  then  pronounced  obscure,  unnatu- 
ral, the  aberrations  of  a  mind  hampered  by  deafness. 
The  trouble,  as  usual,  was  not  in  the  music,  but  in  the 
interpreters,  who  did  not  understand  Beethoven's  inten- 
tions and  his  novel  way  of  expressing  them,  which  is 
now  known  as  his  "third  style,"  and  of  which  the  Ninth 
Symphony  is  the  finest  example.  This  symphony  was 
at  that  time  very  rarely  given  in  Germany.  Reissiger 
had  produced  it  in  Dresden  some  years  previously  to 
the  events  we  are  now  considering,  but  it  failed  to  give 
satisfaction  to  the  audience  —  or  the  conductor.  Con- 
sequently the  symphony  was  in  bad  odor,  and  the 
musicians  feared  that  if  it  were  given  at  their  "  Pensions- 
concert,"  the  widows  and  orphans  would  go  empty- 
handed. 

Wagner  knew  better.  He  had  once  as  a  youth  heard 
this  symphony  at  a  Gewandhaus  concert  in  Leipzig  and 
was  surprised  to  find  so  little  in  it  compared  to  what  he 
had  expected  from  the  score,  with  which  he  was  even 


A  SURPRISING  BEETHOVEN  PERFORMANCE     153 

then  thoroughly  familiar  (the  reader  will  remember  that 
when  he  was  seventeen  he  offered  an  arrangement  of  it 
for  the  piano  to  a  publisher);  in  Paris,  however,  he 
heard  it  under  Habeneck,  who  had  compelled  his  musi- 
cians to  rehearse  it  over  and  over  again  until  they 
thoroughly  understood  it:  consequently  the  audience 
understood  it  too,  and  it  proved  a  great  success.  Con- 
vinced, therefore,  that,  if  Beethoven's  greatest  work  was 
unpopular  in  Dresden,  this  was  simply  the  fault  of  its 
misinterpret^rs,  Wagner  resolved  to  remedy  this  state 
of  affairs,  and  to  reveal  Beethoven's  genius  in  its  true 
light.  So  he  stubbornly  refused  to  modify  his  plan; 
but  in  order  to  avert  the  possibility  of  a  small  audience, 
he  aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  public  by  various  notices 
which  he  inserted  in  the  newspapers  anonymously. 
Then  he  wrote  and  printed  a  sketch  which  later  became 
the  basis  of  his  famous  ten-page  "  Programme  "  for  this 
symphony,  in  which  he  analyzes  the  sentiments  expressed 
in  it,  partly  by  means  of  apposite  verses  happily  chosen 
from  Goethe's  Faust.^  His  next  step  was  to  borrow 
the  orchestral  parts  in  Leipzig,  as  the  Dresden  orchestra 
did  not  wish  to  bear  the  expense  of  buying  them.  Re- 
gardless of  expense,  he  insisted,  however,  in  carrying 
out  his  intention  of  making  some  changes  in  the  concert 
liall,  to  facilitate  a  rearrangement  of  the  orchestra  by 
which  it  was  concentrated  in  the  centre,  while  the  chorus 
surrounded  it  in  seats  rising  amphitheatrically  around 
it,  whereby  the  vocal  music  was  rendered  more  effect- 
ively, and  all  the  sounds  were  better  blended. 

Then  the  rehearsals  began.     With  what  thoroughness 
and  perseverance  they  were  carried  out  may  be  inferred 

1  This  programme  is  repriuted  in  Vol.  V.  of  the  Gesammelie  Schriften. 


154  WAGNER   AS  BOYAL   CONDUCTOR 

from  this  one  fact  that  there  were  no  fewer  than  twelve 
special  meetings  of  the  contrabasses  and  'cellos,  for  the 
unique  recitative  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  movement, 
which  was  repeated  until  the  musicians  succeeded  in 
combining  the  greatest  freedom  and  energy  with  the 
deepest  sentiment  and  expression.  The  choruses  were 
rehearsed  with  the  same  zeal  until  his  own  leading  voice 
could  no  longer  be  heard  in  the  enthusiastic  volume  of 
sound.  Into  the  orchestral  parts  he  wrote  the  expres- 
sion marks  with  his  own  hand. 

For  all  their  pains  Wagner  and  his  musicians  were 
most  liberally  rewarded.  Already  at  the  final  rehearsal 
the  hall  was  full,  and  the  sum  netted  reached  the  unpre- 
cedented figure  of  more  than  2000  thalers ;  the  directors 
confessed  themselves  converted,  and  to  make  sure  of 
a  similar  income,  requested  Wagner  annually,  as  long  as 
he  remained  in  Dresden,  to  repeat  the  Ninth  Symphony 
at  their  Pensionsconcert.  The  eminent  Danish  com- 
poser, Niels  Gade,  assured  Wagner  that  he  would  gladly 
pay  twice  the  admission  price  merely  to  hear  that  reci- 
tative of  the  basses  once  more;  and  the  philologist.  Dr. 
Kochly,  told  him  that  he  had  been  able  for  the  first  time 
to  follow  a  symphony  from  beginning  to  end  with  sym- 
pathetic understanding.  And  how  about  our  friends, 
the  critical  clowns?  They  cut  their  usual  capers,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  one  of  them  wrote  that  the  per- 
formance was  poor  —  excepting  the  choruses,  which  were 
good  because  they  had  been  trained  by  Court-organist 
Schneider  !  This  was  a  lie,  —  Schneider  had  not  trained 
the  chorus,  —  but  a  critical  lie  in  re  Wagner  is  hardly  a 
phenomenon  that  calls  for  comment. 

Eeissiger,  fearing  that  Wagner  would  succeed  where 


UHLIG,  BACH,  PALESTRINA  155 

he  had  failed,  had  gone  so  far  as  to  actually  intrigue 
against  the  Symphony,  and  to  point  out  "Beethoven's 
regrettable  aberrations."  And  Wagner,  the  notorious 
"  enemy  "  of  all  the  great  composers,  what  did  he  think 
of  this  "  regrettable  aberration  "  ? 

"  It  is  not  possible,"  he  writes,  "  tliat  the  work  of  a  master  can 
ever  have  taken  possession  of  a  pupil's  heart  with  such  magic 
power  as  that  which  overwhelmed  me  when  perusing  the  first 
movement  of  this  symphony.  Had  anybody  surprised  me  before 
the  open  score,  as  I  went  over  it  to  consider  tlie  means  of  its  exe- 
cution, and  noted  my  tears  and  frantic  sobs,  he  would  truly  have 
asked  himself  in  astonishment  if  this  was  the  conduct  of  a  royal 
Saxon  Kapellmeister  !  Fortunately  I  was  on  such  occasions  spared 
the  visits  of  our  orchestral  directors  and  their  revered  first  Kapell- 
meister, and  other  gentlemen  versed  in  classical  music." 

UHLIG,   BACH,    PALESTRINA 

Among  those  who  attended  this  historic  performance 
of  the  Ninth  Symphony  were  two  young  men,  one  of 
whom  subsequently  became  one  of  the  most  able  Wag- 
ner conductors,  and  the  other  one  of  the  greatest  Wagner 
singers  —  Hans  von  Biilow  and  Schnorr  von  Carolsfeld.^ 
Among  the  number  of  those  who  were  converted  on  this 
occasion  to  Wagner's  cause  was  also  Theodor  Uhlig, 
who  subsequently  became  the  valued  assistant,  friend, 
and  champion  of  the  exiled  composer,  and  to  whom  the 
lion's  share  of  the  Letters  to  Dresden  Friends  are  ad- 
dressed. Uhlig  was  himself  a  composer,  who,  in  his 
early  youth,  wrote  almost  a  hundred  vocal  and  instru- 
mental pieces.  He  w^as  at  first  a  decided  opponent  of 
Wagner,  and  even   wrote   a  musical  burlesque   of  his 

1  Glasenapp,  I.  218. 


156  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

style;  but  on  hearing  him  conduct  the  Ninth  Symphony, 
he  realized  what  injustice  he  had  done  him,  and  in  course 
of  time  his  conversion  became  so  complete  that  he  wrote, 
shortly  before  his  death:  "I  sympathize  with  Wagner 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  so  thoroughly  that  for  me 
the  rest  of  the  musical  world,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
hardly  exists."  We  shall  see  later  on  of  what  inestimable 
service  this  friend  was  to  Wagner  during  the  years  when 
he  could  not  have  ventured  on  German  soil  without  risk- 
ing his  freedom,  if  not  his  life. 

Besides  Beethoven  and  Weber  there  were  other  classi- 
cal composers  for  whom  Wagner  showed  his  "  insolent 
contempt "  by  his  actions  and  writings  during  the  Dres- 
den period.  One  of  these  was  the  Italian  Palestrina, 
whose  vocal  music  he  tried  to  introduce  in  the  Catholic 
Court  Chapel:  "I  wanted  to  relieve  the  hard-worked 
members  of  the  orchestra,  add  female  voices,  and  intro- 
duce true  Catholic  church  music,  a  capella.  As  a  speci- 
men I  prepared  Palestrina's  Stabat  Male)-,  and  suggested 
other  pieces,  but  my  efforts  failed."^  Wagner  showed 
the  influence  of  Palestrina  on  his  own  style,  three 
decades  later,  in  Parsifal. 

Bach  was  another  of  the  idols  for  whom  he  never 
ceased  trying  to  make  converts.  At  one  of  his  sub- 
scription concerts,  in  1848,  he  brought  out  one  of  those 
magnificent  motets  of  Bach  in  which,  as  he  says,  "the 
lyric  stream  of  rhythmic  melody  mingles  with  the  waves 
of  an  ocean  of  harmonies,"  —  which  recalls  Beethoven's 
saying,  "Not  Bach  [brook]  but  Ocean  should  be  his 
name."     In  such  efforts  he  was  ably  assisted  by  one  of 

1  Said  in  conversation  with  E.  Dannreuther.  Grove's  Dictionary  of 
Music  and  Musicians,  Vol.  IV.  p.  354. 


WHAT   WAGNER  DID  FOR   GLUCK  157 

the  Dresden  friends  to  whom  the  famous  letters  are 
written,  —  Wilhelm  Fischer,  for  whose  achievements  as 
chorus  director  Wagner  chiims  an  ahnost  historic  sig- 
nificance. Thus,  as  Wagner  relates,  "  he  had  tauglit  liis 
theatre-chorus  the  motet, 

.  "  '  Singet  dem  Herrn'  in  such  a  manner  that,  relying  on  the 
uncommonly  clever  and  certain  execution  of  the  singers,  I  could 
venture  to  take  the  first  allegro,  which  is  commonly,  on  account  of 
its  horrible  difficulties,  taken  as  a  most  cautious  moderato,  at  a 
really  fiery  pace,  which  once  more,  as  is  well-known,  almost  fright- 
ened our  critics  to  death." 

WHAT    WAGNER    DID   FOR    GLUCK 

In  his  capacity  as  operatic  conductor,  also,  Wagner 
favored  the  classical  repertory  as  much  as  in  his  power 
lay;  but  this  matter,  of  course,  was  controlled  ultimately 
by  the  royal  Director,  Avho,  in  turn,  felt  obliged,  for 
pecuniary  reasons,  to  give  the  public  most  frequently 
what  it  most  frequently  wanted  to  hear.  You  may  be 
sure  that  it  was  not  Wagner's  fault  that,  for  example,  in 
the  year  in  which  Tannhduser  was  first  given  (1845), 
Bellini,  Donizetti,  and  Rossini  had  thirty-three  per- 
formances together,  while  Mozart,  Beethoven,  and  Weber 
combined  had  only  twenty-four.^  How  much  the  great 
German  composers  needed  such  a  champion  as  Wagner, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  extraordinary  fact  that  two 
of  the  finest  productions  of  German  genius  —  Marsch- 
ner's  Hans  Ileilmg  (that  gloomy  but  splendid  opera  which 
cast  its  shadow  on  the  Flying   Dutdiman)  and  Gluck's 

1  Interesting  statistical  tables,  comprising  tJie  years  1842-1845  and 
1885  at  all  the  leading  German  opera-houses,  may  be  found  in  Kiirsch- 
ner's  Wagner  Jahrhuch,  188G,  pp.  43C-4G5. 


158  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

Armicla  —  had  never  been  heard  at  Dresden  till  Wagner 
brought  them  out,  though  Marschner's  masterwork  was 
eleven  years  old,  and  Gluck's  sixty-six!  I  have  already 
stated  that  Wagner  chose  Weber's  Euryanthe  for  his 
"  trial  performance  " :  the  first  opera  after  his  installa- 
tion was  Gluck's  Armida,  which  made  a  deep  impression. 

A  still  greater  success  for  Gluck  Wagner  won  by  the 
revival  of  Ipliigenie  in  Aulis,  which  (as  the  statisti- 
cal tables  referred  to  in  my  last  foot-note  show)  liad 
almost  entirely  disappeared  from  the  German  opera- 
houses.  But  he  was  not  satisfied  with  simply  reviving 
Gluck's  great  work.  Suspecting  that  Spontini  or  others 
might  have  tampered  with  the  score,  as  used  at  Berlin, 
he  sent  to  Paris  for  the  original  edition,  and  found  his 
suspicions  verified.  A  most  serious  blunder  had  been 
made  in  the  overture,  in  which  some  one  had  ignorantly 
and  impudently  inserted  the  word  allegro,  where  the  orig- 
inal score  had  no  change  of  tempo.  ^  This  falsification, 
which  utterly  marred  the  dignity  of  the  overture,  had 
been  universally  accepted,  and  was  responsible  for  the 
unsatisfactory  close  which  Mozart  had  made  for  this 
overture.  Wagner  altered  this  close,  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  correct  score,  and  at  concerts  his  version 
is  now  accepted  by  all  intelligent  conductors.  He  also 
altered  the  closing  scene  of  the  opera,  ^  for  reasons  simi- 
lar to  those  which  induced  him  to  change  the  last  scene 
in  his  own  Tannhduser,  about  which  more  anon.  He 
also  touched  up  the  instrumentation  in  some  places. 

Kor  was  this  all.     The  reader  has  doubtless  heard  of 
Rousseau's  curious  opinion  that  the  French  language  was 

1  See  the  details  in  Wagner's  Gesammelte  Schriften,  Vol.  V.  p.  148. 

2  Details  may  be  found  in  Glasenapp,  Vol.  I.  pp.  226-228. 


WHAT   WAGNER  DID  FOR   GLUCK  159 

not  suitable  for  music.  Gluck's  Tphigenie  in  Aulis,  how- 
ever, made  him  change  his  mind,  and  induced  him  to 
confess  frankly  that  for  good,  expressive  music  French 
was  as  well  adapted  as  any  other  language.  But  the 
German  translation  of  Gluck's  text  was  so  barbarous  that 
Wagner  could  not  persuade  himself  to  use  it,  before  he 
had  spent  many  hours  in  correcting  it  and  making  the 
word-accents  correspond  with  the  musical  accents.^ 

The  result  justified  all  this  labor.  Gluck's  opera  was 
a  brilliant  success,  and  was  repeated  six  times  before 
the  close  of  the  season.  But  did  any  one  thank  him 
publicly  for  his  labor  of  love,  and  point  out  what  he  had 
done  to  bring  back  Gluck's  opera  to  honor?  Not  a  bit 
of  it.  The  critics  had  pointed  out  beforehand  that  this 
opera  was  "  an  unfortunate  choice,  involving  a  waste  of 
time  and  trouble;  for  nowhere  has  it  been  possible  to 
preserve  successfully  on  the  modern  stage  this  work 
of  Gluck,  which  is  most  antiquated  in  its  form,  and 
unredeemed  by  its  dramatic  contents."  After  this  it 
would  have  been  undiplomatic  to  change  front,  for  that 
would  have  made  conspicuous  Wagner's  share  in  the  suc- 
cess of  this  revival.  In  this  matter  Adolphe  Jullien  has 
gone  among  the  Philistines.  Gluck,  he  says  (p.  67), 
was  not  so  antiquated  that  his  scores  needed  retouching ; 
what  would  Wagner  have  thought  of  the  possibility  that 
some  one  might  hereafter  retouch  his  own  scores?  To 
which  I  reply  that  Wagner,  throughout  his  life,  continued 
(like  Bach)  to  retouch  and  improve  his  own  scores,  and 
that  he  would  have  been  the  last  to  wince  at  the  thought 
that  some  great  composer  of  the  future  would  bring  one 
of  his  operas  "up  to  date,"  if  in  that  way  it  could  be 

1  See  the  Wagner-Liszt  Correspondence,  Vol.  I.  No.  41. 


160  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

redeemed  from  universal  neglect.  That  was  the  case  with 
Gluck's  opera,  as  we  have  seen.  The  question  is  less 
one  of  art  than  of  common  sense.  If  conservative  critics 
and  pedants  would  rather  have  the  scores  of  the  old 
masters  unaltered  and  unperformed  on  their  shelves  than 
retouched  and  brought  to  life  again  with  a  possibility  of 
success,  I  am  unable  to  follow  them;  and  I  am  sure  that 
most  of  my  readers  will  sympathize  with  my  feelings  on 
this  subject.^ 

Liszt,  as  usual,  showed  his  level-headedness  and  com- 
mon sense  in  this  matter.  While  he  was  conductor  at 
Weimar  he  paid  much  attention  to  Gluck;  and  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  Wagner  he  writes:  "Would  you  feel 
inclined,  later  on,  to  make  arrangements  of  Alceste, 
Orpheus,  Armida,  and  Iphigenie  in  Tauris  similar  to  that 
of  Iphigenie  in  Aulis,  and  what  would  you  ask  as  compen- 
sation?" Wagner  replied:  "  Concerning  your  excellent 
suggestion  regarding  the  editing  of  Gluck's  operas  — 
which  gave  me  much  pleasure  —  I  shall  soon  write  you 

1  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett,  in  his  extraordinary  parody  of  Wagner's  life, 
published  in  the  London  Musical  Times  (1890-1891),  remarks  that  in 
this  Gluck  arrangement  "  Wagner  exhibited  his  '  discontent  with  exist- 
ing things '  in  a  manner  which  even  his  most  fanatical  followers  would 
hardly  care  to  defend."  Had  Mr.  Bennett's  ignorance  of  his  subject 
been  somewhat  less  complete  and  symmetrical,  he  would  have  known 
that  Wagner's  most  fanatical /oe.  Professor  Eduard  Hanslick,  cordially 
approves  of  his  version  of  this  opera,  in  which,  he  says,  "  a  fine  conser- 
vative feeling  for  the  characteristics  of  the  past  goes  hand  in  hand  with 
a  clear  perception  of  modern  requirements.  True,"  he  continues,  "  a 
critic  conveys  to  the  reader  a  greater  sense  of  his  own  importance  if  he 
wails  over  the  omission  of  every  little  note  as  an  irreparable  loss.  But 
a  truer  friend  and  benefactor  of  Gluck  is  he  who,  by  sacrificing  a  few 
minor  details,  helps  one  of  his  operas  to  success,  than  those  purists 
who,  from  their  classical  heights,  would  rather  look  down  on  its  fail- 
ure." Wagner's  additions  in  the  last  act  Hanslick  pronounces  "  mas- 
terly traits,  which  enormously  increase  the  dramatic  effect  without 
asserting  themselves  too  independently." 


TWO   SPONTINI  ANECDOTES  161 

a  more  definite  answer. "  But  as  there  is  no  further  alhi- 
sion  to  the  matter,  we  must  suppose  that  the  plan  was 
frustrated  by  other  projects  and  tasks. 

TWO   SPONTINI   ANECDOTES 

Most  opportunely  we  find,  in  one  of  the  papers  in  which 
Wagner  describes  his  experiences  in  Dresden,^  an  anec- 
dote which  shows  how  great  composers  would  be  apt  to 
look  on  their  modern  "  editors  "  —  provided  they  are  such 
editors  as  Franz  was  of  Bach  and  Handel,  and  Wagner 
was  of  Gluck,  Beethoven,  and  Palestrina :  — 

"  In  course  of  a  conversation  with  Spontini  I  begged  him  to  tell 
me  why  he,  wlio  was  usually  so  much  addicted  to  an  energetic  use 
of  the  trombones,  oddly  kept  them  in  silence  in  the  magnificent 
triumphal  march  of  the  first  act  {La  Vestale).  Astonished,  he 
asked  me,  '  Didn't  I  write  a  part  for  the  trombones  ? '  I  showed 
him  the  printed  score,  whereupon  he  begged  me  to  add  a  part  for 
tlie  trombones,  to  be  used,  if  i:)0ssible,  at  the  next  rehearsal.  'Jlitn 
he  said:  'In  your  Bienzi  I  heard  an  instrument  which  you  call 
the  "  bass-tuba  "  ;  I  do  not  wish  to  banish  this  instrument  from  the 
orchestra  ;  write  a  part  for  it  in  my  Vestale.''  It  gave  me  pleasure 
to  comply  with  this  request,  and  I  did  so  with  care  and  discretion. 
When,  at  the  rehearsal,  he  first  noted  the  effect  of  this  addition, 
lie  cast  on  me  a  really  most  tender  look  of  gratitude,  and  the  im- 
pression made  on  him  by  this  not-difficult  enrichment  of  his  score 
was  so  lasting  that  some  time  later  he  sent  me  from  Paris  a  most 
friendly  letter,  in  which  he  begged  me  to  send  him  a  copy  of  these 
additional  parts  which  I  had  written  ;  only  his  pride  did  not  per- 
mit him  to  admit  by  iiis  language  that  he  desired  something  that 
I  had  written  for  him,  so  he  said :  '  send  me  a  copy  of  the  trom- 
bone parts  in  the  triumphal  march  and  of  the  bass-tuba  part,  as 
they  were  played  under  my  direction  at  Dresden.'  " 

1  Reminiscences  of  Spont hi i ,  Vol.  V.  p.  120. 


162  WAGNER  AS  ROYAL   CONDUCTOR 

Of  this  extraordinary  pride  and  vanity  of  Spontini, 
"Wagner's  Reminiscences  contain  several  other  amusing 
illustrations,  only  one  of  which,  however,  can  be  cited 
here,  as  the  others  belong  rather  in  a  Spontini  than  in  a 
Wagner  biography.  "  When  I  lieard  your  Rienzi, "  Spon- 
tini remarked  one  day,  "  I  said,  this  is  a  man  of  genius, 
but  he  has  already  done  more  than  he  can  do."  Being 
urged  to  explain  this  oracular  utterance,  Spontini 
frankly  expounded  at  considerable  length,  how  he  had 
exhausted  all  operatic  possibilities,  so  that  it  was  useless 
and  foolish  to  try  to  write  any  more  operas.  —  In  spite 
of  this  advice  Wagner  continued  recklessly  to  write 
operas,  and  if  Spontini  could  come  to  life  to-day,  he  would 
be  the  most  astonished  man  in  the  world  on  seeing  how 
his  own  works  have  almost  entirely  vanished,  while  to 
Wagner  the  opera-houses  devote  about  one-fourth  of  all 
their  performances!  It  must  be  said,  however,  that 
Spontini  does  not  deserve  such  entire  neglect.  With  all 
his  faults  he  was  at  least  an  honest  artist,  of  whom 
Wagner  wrote  —  in  his  usual  abusive  manner  —  that 
"  with  him  died  a  grand,  most  estimable,  and  noble  art- 
period.  .  .  .  Let  us  bow  deeply  and  reverently  before 
the  grave  of  the  creator  of  La  Vestale,  Cortez,  and 
Qlympia  J  " 


TANNHAUSER   IN   DRESDEN 

Eventful  aud  busy  years  were  the  seven  that  Wagner 
spent  in  Dresden;  for  in  this  short  period  three  of  liis 
operas  liad  their  first  performance,  wliile  two — Tann- 
hduser  and  Lohengrin  —  were  also  composed  during  this 
time.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  sketch  of 
Tannhduser  was  made  even  before  the  Rienzi  rehearsals 
began,  in  1842;  but  there  were  so  many  interruptions, 
and  so  much  of  Wagner's  time  was  taken  up  with  his 
duties  as  royal  conductor,  that  the  score  of  the  opera  was 
not  completed  till  three  years  later.  Concerning  his 
state  of  mind  during  its  composition,  he  has  made  this 
interesting  revelation :  — 

"  Into  this  work  I  had  precipitated  myself  with  my  whole  soul, 
and  with  such  consuming  ardor  that,  the  nearer  I  approached  its 
end,  the  more  I  was  haunted  by  an  idea  that  a  sudden  death  would 
prevent  me  from  completing  it ;  so  that  after  writing  the  last  note 
I  had  a  feeling  of  joyous  elation,  as  if  I  had  escaped  a  mortal 
danger." 

To  a  friend  in  Berlin,  to  whom  he  sent  a  copy  of  the 
score,  he  wrote,  in  a  similar  vein:  — 

"Here  is  my  Tannhauser,  body  and  soul:  a  German  from  top 
to  toe.  May  he  be  able  to  win  tlie  hearts  of  my  Orerman  country- 
men in  a  larger  measure  than  my  other  works  have  succeeded  in 
doing  so  far  !     This  opera  must  be  good,  or  else  I  never  shall  be 

103 


164  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

able  to  do  anything  that  is  good.  It  acted  on  me  like  real  magic  ; 
whenever  and  wherever  I  took  up  my  subject  I  was  all  aglow  and 
trembling  with  excitement  ;  after  the  various  long  interruptions 
from  work,  the  first  breath  always  transported  me  back  into  the 
fragrant  atmosphere  that  had  intoxicated  me  at  its  first  conception. 
The  first  performance  is  to  be  in  September.  At  the  end  of  this 
month  I  shall  go  to  Marienbad,  and  in  August  I  shall  return  to 
Dresden  to  rehearse  Tannhdiiser.  Piano  scores,  etc.,  are  all  com- 
pleted, so  that,  on  the  day  after  the  performance,  I  shall  be  per- 
fectly free  and  at  leisure. ' ' 

THE   STORY   OF   TANNHAUSER 

It  is  no  wonder  that  Wagner  was  so  bewitched  by  his 
new  work :  he  couhl  not  have  found  a  more  fascinating 
subject,  or  one  more  admirably  suited  for  a  musical  set- 
ting than  the  story  of  Tannhauser  and  the  Vocal  Contest 
in  the  Wartburg.  It  takes  us  back  to  the  early  part  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  time  when  Christian  doctrines 
had  not  yet  succeeded  in  driving  from  the  popular  mind 
various  superstitions  about  heathen  deities.  One  of  these 
deities,  Holda,  had  become  identified  with  the  Venus  of 
ancient  classical  mythology,  and  instead  of  being,  as 
formerly,  the  simple  goddess  of  beauty  and  the  charms 
of  nature,  was  now  looked  upon  as  a  wicked  temptress 
to  lust  and  sensual  depravity.  This  mediaeval  Venus  of 
the  North  inhabited  the  interior  of  mountains,  with 
nymphs  and  sirens  and  other  seductive  attendants,  whose 
duty  was  to  decoy  victims  into  her  grottoes,  where  they 
found  resistance  impossible  and  soon  were  given  up  to 
eternal  perdition.  One  of  these  subterranean  courts  of 
Venus  was  in  the  Horselberg,  near  the  Wartburg,  in 
Thuringia,  and  it  is  this  romantic  locality  that  forms 
the  scenic  background  of  Wagner's  opera. 


THE  STOEY  OF  TANNHAUSER  165 

Act  I.  Scene:  a  vast  grotto,  extending  indefinitely. 
On  one  side  a  green  waterfall  plunges  tumultuously  over 
the  rocks,  A  brook  carries  this  water  to  the  background, 
where  it  forms  a  lake  in  which  Naiads  are  seen  bathing, 
while  Sirens  are  reclining  on  the  banks.  The  rocks 
which  form  the  sides  of  the  cave  are  covered  with  curi- 
ous, coral-like  tropical  growths.  In  a  branch  of  the 
grotto,  to  the  left,  suffused  with  a  rosy  light,  Venus  is 
seen  reclining  on  a  couch,  while  Tannhauser  kneels  at 
her  side,  his  head  resting  in  her  lap,  and  his  harp  lying 
at  his  side.  Youths  and  nymphs  are  dancing  and  frolick- 
ing about  the  foaming  pool  formed  by  the  waterfall; 
and  from  the  background  a  train  of  Bacchantes  comes 
running  in,  urging  the  dancers  to  wild  revelry.  Satyrs 
and  Fauns  emerge  from  side  grottoes,  mix  with  the  lov- 
ing couples,  chase  the  nymphs,  and  raise  the  confusion 
and  excitement  to  its  highest  pitch.  Horrified,  the  three 
Graces  now  rise  from  their  place  behind  the  couch  of 
Venus  and  attempt  to  check  the  revelry.  They  awake 
the  sleeping  Amorettes  and  drive  them  from  their  lair. 
Like  a  flock  of  birds  the  Amorettes  fly  upwards,  place 
themselves  as  in  battle  array,  and  shoot  a  continuous 
shower  of  arrows  into  the  confused  groups  below.  The 
wounded  ones,  seized  by  the  pangs  of  love,  sink  down  in 
languorous  exhaustion,  and  are  driven  towards  the  back- 
ground by  the  Graces.  The  other  actors  in  this  amorous 
pantomime  also  disappear  in  various  directions,  and  the 
Graces  return  to  Venus,  as  if  to  report  their  victory  over 
the  wild  passions  of  her  subjects.  The  seductive  song  of 
the  Sirens  is  now  wafted  from  the  lake,  inviting  way- 
farers into  the  cave.  A  dissolving  view  shows  the 
abduction  of  Europa,  who  is  seen  seated  on  the  back  of 


166  TANNHAUSEB  IN  DRESDEN 

the  white  bull,  decked  with  flowers.  Another  view 
shows  Leda  reclining  by  a  lake,  in  the  woods,  in  soft 
moonlight.  The  swan  swims  up  to  her  and  rests  his  neck 
caressingly  on  her  bosom.  As  this  picture  vanishes,  the 
Graces  also  disappear,  and  Venus  and  Tannhauser  are 
left  alone. 

Tannhauser  starts,  as  if  waking  from  a  dream.  All 
these  lascivious  scenes,  which  Venus  has  evoked  for  the 
gratification  of  his  senses,  delight  him  no  more.  Long 
has  he  tarried  and  dallied  with  the  joys  that  Venus 
has  lavished  on  him;  but  suddenly  the  remembrance  of 
the  upper  world,  with  its  blue  sky  and  sunlight,  its 
flowers  and  birds  and  forests,  has  come  over  him,  and 
eagerly  he  begs  Venus  to  let  him  depart.  Always,  he 
promises,  shall  his  praise  be  only  of  her  charms  and  her 
love;  ever  will  he  be  her  champion:  but  he  is  not  a  god, 
cannot  always  enjoy;  his  human  heart  longs  for  the 
human  sorrows  which  alone  make  the  joys  alternating 
with  them  real  joys.  Venus  is  indignant  at  this  change 
in  her  favored  lover.  She  coaxes  and  threatens  in  turn; 
predicts  that  he  will  soon  long  eagerly  to  return  to  these 
divine  pleasures,  when  it  will  be  too  late.  But  Tann- 
hauser remains  obdurate.  "  Not  in  you,  goddess  of  joy, 
rests  my  salvation,  but  in  the  Virgin  Mary!"  he  ex- 
claims; and  the  moment  he  utters  the  word  Mary 
there  is  a  terrible  detonation,  as  of  an  earthquake,  and 
Venus  with  her  grotto  has  vanished  instantaneously. 
Tannhauser  stands  alone  in  a  beautiful  green  valley, 
the  blue  sky  overhead,  to  the  right  the  stately  Wart- 
burg,  while  on  an  eminence  to  the  left  a  young  shepherd 
accompanies  with  his  pipe  and  song  the  tinkling  of  the 
bells  in  his  herds.     He  sings  of  Frau  Holda  and  the 


THE  STORY  OF  TANNHAUSER  lt)7 

pleasures  of  spring  till  he  is  interrupted  by  a  chorus  of 
pilgrims  who  are  on  their  way  to  Rome,  Their  solemn 
chant  is  first  heard  faintly  in  the  distance,  then  becomes 
nearer  and  louder  as  the  pilgrims  cross  the  stage,  and 
finally  dies  away  again  in  the  distance.  Tannhauser, 
deeply  affected,  sinks  on  his  knees.  The  burden  of  his 
sins  weighs  him  down,  and  he  vows  to  atone  for  them  by 
seeking  toil  and  torture  without  rest. 

The  sound  of  distant  church-bells  accompanies  his 
prayer,  and  when  it  ceases,  hunting-horns  are  heard  com- 
ing nearer  and  nearer.  The  Landgrave  of  Thuringia, 
accompanied  by  the  Knights  and  Minnesingers,  Wolfram 
von  Eschenbach,  Walther  von  der  Vogelweide,  Biterolf, 
and  others,  comes  on  the  stage.  They  recognize  the 
long-lost  Tannhauser,  greet  him  cordially,  and  invite  him 
to  return  with  them  to  the  Wartburg.  But  as  this  does 
not  agree  with  his  resolution  to  do  penance,  he  holds 
back,  until  Wolfram  touches  a  responsive  chord  by  beg- 
ging him  to  stay  for  the  sake  of  Elisabeth.  He  does  not 
hesitate  to  tell  him  the  open  secret  that  he  won  the 
heart  of  the  Landgrave's  niece  at  one  of  the  Minne- 
singer contests.  Elisabeth  herself  did  not  keep  the 
secret,  for  ever  since  Tannhauser's  mysterious  disappear- 
ance, soon  after  that  event,  she  had  avoided  the  Knights 
and  their  contests,  and  pined  away  in  solitude.  "  Return 
to  us  with  your  song,  so  that  she  too  may  grace  our  festi- 
vals again,"  Wolfram  concludes.  "To  her,  to  her," 
Tannhauser  sings  with  sudden  enthusiasm  and  rapture, 
in  which  he  is  joined  by  the  other  Knights  and  the 
Landgrave  in  a  glorious  septet.  Hunting-horns  again 
resound,  echoed  by  the  companions  in  the  woods ;  and  as 
the  hunters  crowd  on  the  stage  with  their  horses,  dogs. 


168  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

and  deer,  the  curtain  falls  on  the  grandest  operatic  act 
created  up  to  the  year  of  its  production. 

Act  II.  The  Landgrave  has  summoned  the  nobles  of 
his  land  to  witness  a  prize  contest  of  the  Minnesingers, 
at  which  the  subject  (as  at  the  mediaeval  "Courts  of 
Love")  is  to  be  the  nature  of  Love.^  After  the  nobles 
and  their  ladies  have  assembled  in  the  large  banqueting- 
hall,  the  Landgrave  makes  an  address  in  which  he  an- 
nounces that  the  winner  of  the  vocal  prize  may  ask  of 
the  queen  of  the  festival  any  reward,  even  should  it  be 
her  hand  and  heart.  Elisabeth  hears  this  without 
alarm,  for  she  has  just  met  Tannhiiuser  and  confessed 
her  love  to  him.  Nor  does  she  fear  that  he  will  be 
beaten  in  the  contest,  even  by  Wolfram,  although  he 
too  is  an  excellent  bard  and  also  loves  her  —  but  with  a 
different  love  from  Tannliiiuser's,  as  the  sequel  soon 
shows.  It  is  Wolfram  who  opens  the  contest,  and  he 
sings  of  love  in  the  manner  of  the  Minnesingers,  as  a 
kind  of  unselfish  adoration  and  self-sacrifice,  free  from 
all  material  alloy.  Against  this  ascetic,  one-sided  view 
of  love  Tannhiluser  protests.  The  fountain  of  love 
should,  indeed,  be  pure,  he  sings,  but  if  we  never  drank 
from  it  to  quench  our  thirst,  the  race  would  soon  come 
to  an  end.  Elisabeth,  with  the  correct  instincts  of  youth 
and  beauty,  makes  a  sign  of  approval,  but  stops  short 
on  noticing  that  the  spectators,  taught  by  hypocritic  cus- 

1  This  contest  in  all  probability  took  place  at  the  Wartburg  in  1207, 
although  some  historians  pronounce  it  a  myth  (see,  e.ff.,  Elson's  History 
of  German  Sonc/,  pp.  17-25).  "Minnesingers"  means  "love-singers," 
and  these  minstrels  had  a  special  goddessof  love,  Fran  Minne,  who  typi- 
fied the  pure,  super-sensual  aspect  of  love,  which  alone  interested  these 
bards  (in  their  songs).  One  feature  of  the  contest  which  one  would 
like  to  see  revived  at  certain  performances  of  Wagner's  opera  was  that, 
while  the  best  singer  received  a  prize,  "  the  worst  was  to  be  at  once 
taken  out  and  hung." 


THE  STOEY  OF  TANNHAUSER  169 

torn  to  assume  a  higher  ideal  than  man  can  —  or  should 
—  live  up  to,  remain  sternly  silent.  And  when  the  other 
singers  join  in  Wolfram's  strain,  exaggerating  the  meta- 
physical side  of  love  and  censuring  Tannhiiuser,  the 
latter  is  driven  by  a  feeling  of  opposition  into  the  other 
extreme.  Has  he  not  promised  Venus  to  sing  of  love 
as  she  has  taught  it  to  him  ?  Forgetting  everything 
else  in  the  excitement  of  the  angry  contest,  he  finally 
bursts  out  into  a  passionate  song  of  praise  to  the  heathen 
goddess,  declaring  that  he  alone  can  knoAV  real  love  who 
has  dwelt  in  the  Venusberg 


1 


Horror  and  consternation  are  the  result  of  his  out- 
burst. All  the  ladies  leave  in  haste  and  disorder,  Elisa- 
beth alone  remaining,  pale  as  death.  "  He  has  been  in 
the  Venusberg,  the  sinner,  by  his  own  confession!  he 
must  die,"  the  Knights  shout,  and  crowd  around  Tann- 
hauser  with  drawn  swords.  At  this  moment  Elisabeth 
utters  a  piercing  scream  and  throws  herself  between 
him  and  his  assailants  with  the  words :  — 

«♦  Away  from  him  !     Not  ye  may  be  his  judges ! 
Shame  on  you !     Cast  away  the  angry  sword ! 
And  mark  the  words  that  come  from  maiden's  lips  ; 
Learn  ye  through  me  of  God's  all-gracious  will ! 

"The  wretched  one,  whom  grim  temptation 
In  fearful  folds  has  so  enfurl'd  ; 
How  !     Shall  not  he  obtain  salvation, 
Through  rue  and  penance  in  this  world  ? 

"  Ye  who  are  strong  in  your  believing, 
Would  ye  deny  God's  holy  will  ? 
"Why  of  all  hope  him  thus  bereaving  ? 
So  say  hath  he  e'er  wrought  you  ill  ? 

1  See  Wagner's  interesting  comments  on  this  scene,  Vol.  V.  pp.  195- 
199. 


170  TAN  Nil AU  SEE   IN  DRESDEN 

"  See  me,  the  maid  whose  life  is  bliglited 
By  him,  witli  one  dread,  fearful  stroke  ; 
Whose  soul  by  love  was  sweetly  lighted, 
Till  cruelly  her  heart  he  broke. 

"  I  plead  for  him  ;  I  plead  his  life  ;  ye  spare  him ; 
I  pray  his  steps  in  penitence  ye  guide  ; 
The  gentle  message  of  liedemption  bear  him,  — 
That  for  him,  too,  once  our  good  Saviour  died." 

Tannhauser  is  saved.  In  deep  coutrition  he  ex- 
claims :  — 

"  When  from  the  path  of  grace  I  wandered 
An  angel  came  my  steps  to  guide  ; 
But  ah,  to  wild  desire  I  pandered,  — 
And  gazed  on  her  in  lustful  pride. 

"  O  thou  who  rulest  in  the  Heavens  above  me, 
Who  sent  the  angel  of  thy  love  to  me  ; 
Have  mercy  on  me,  though  vile  sin  could  move  me, 
To  once  deny  thy  messenger  and  Thee." 

The  Landgrave  informs  him  that  a  band  of  pilgrims 
has  just  formed  to  go  to  Rome.  His  only  way  to  escape 
eternal  damnation  is  to  join  them  and  seek  the  Pope's 
absolution.  At  this  moment  the  chorus  of  the  pilgrims 
is  heard  in  the  valley,  and  Tannhauser,  his  face  illu- 
mined with  a  sudden  ray  of  hope,  shouts  "To  Rome!  " 
and  rushes  out  to  join  them.  Not  for  his  own  sake  does 
he  hope  for  pardon,  but  to  dry  the  tears  of  Elisabeth, 
who,  by  sharing  his  sorrows,  has  suddenly  revealed  to 
him  a  higher  love  than  that  of  Venus,  who  only  shared 
his  joys. 

Act  III.  The  scene  represents  the  valley  of  the  Wart- 
burg,  as  in  the  first  act,  but  in  autumnal  coloring  and 


THE  STORY  OF  TANNHAUSER  171 

twilight.  Elisabeth  is  seen  kneeling  before  a  wayside 
shrine  of  the  Virgin,  praying  for  Tannhiiuser.  Sud- 
denly the  song  of  the  returning  pilgrims  is  heard.  They 
come  nearer  and  uncover  their  heads  as  they  pass  the 
shrine;  but  Elisabeth's  anxious  gaze  fails  to  find  Tann- 
hauser  among  them.  After  they  have  all  disappeared, 
"Wolfram  approaches  and  begs  permission  to  escort 
Elisabeth  to  the  castle;  but  she  only  shakes  her  head 
sorrowfully,  with  a  significant  gesture  implying  that  she 
has  no  more  need  of  earthly  assistance  or  companion- 
ship. Wolfram,  thus  left  alone,  sings  his  pathetic  song 
to  the  Evening  Star,  ending  with  the  lines :  — 

"  0  thou  beloved  Evening  Star, 
I  greet  thee  gladly  from  afar  ; 
From  heart  that  hers  could  ne'er  betray, 
Greet,  when  she  pass  on  her  heavenward  way, 
When  she  has  left  this  vale  of  sorrow, 
For  realms  of  light  and  endless  morrow." 

Meanwhile  the  twilight  has  deepened  into  night,  Avhen 
Wolfram  suddenly  notices  a  pilgrim  tottering  along  with 
the  aid  of  his  staff,  his  garments  torn,  his  face  pale  and 
convulsed.  Recognizing  Tannhiiuser  by  his  voice,  he 
asks  whether  he  has  dared  to  set  foot  on  that  soil  again 
before  obtaining  absolution.  "Fear  not,"  Tannhiiuser 
replies  ;  "  it  is  not  you  nor  your  companions  that  I 
seek;  it  is  that  road  which  once  I  found  so  easily  —  the 
road  to  the  Venusberg.  Can  you  tell  me  the  way  to 
it  ?  "  "  Madman !  "  Wolfram  retorts ;  "  is  that  your  goal  ? 
Say,  have  you  not  been  in  Home  ? "  "  Speak  not  of 
Rome!"  Tannhiiuser  shouts  angrily;  but  at  last  Wolf- 
ram succeeds  in  calming  him,  and  he  relates  the  pathetic 
adventures  which  have  brought  him  to  the  present  pass. 


172  TANNHAUSER   IN  DRESDEN 

He  had  gone  to  Rome,  in  deep  contrition  to  obtain  the 
Pope's  forgiveness,  like  the  other  pilgrims;  but  to  him 
alone  it  was  refused.  The  Pope  hurled  at  him  the  crush- 
ing message  that  if  he  has  dwelt  in  the  Venusberg,  there 
is  no  more  hope  of  securing  forgiveness  for  his  sins  than 
there  is  that  the  dry  staff  in  his  hand  shall  bring  forth 
green  leaves. 

Before  he  has  concluded  this  narrative,  a  light  mist 
has  covered  the  background;  presently  a  rosy  light  suf- 
fuses it,  and  Venus  is  seen  reclining  on  her  couch, 
surrounded  by  dancing  nymphs.  In  seductive  tones 
interwoven  with  the  weird  orchestral  sounds  that  viv- 
idly recall  the  seductive  scenes  of  the  first  act,  she  wel- 
comes back  to  her  grotto  the  faithless  lover.  Wolfram 
tries  to  hold  him  back;  but  is  fast  losing  ground,  when 
by  a  sudden  inspiration,  he  once  more  utters  the  magic 
word  Elisabeth.  At  the  same  instant  a  chorus  of  monks 
is  heard  singing  her  funeral  dirge.  "  Woe!  he  is  lost  to 
me,"  is  the  lament  of  Venus,  as  she  suddenly  disappears 
with  her  magic  surroundings.  The  rising  sun  casts  its 
first  rays  on  the  valley,  from  which  the  funeral  proces- 
sion, comprising  the  Landgrave,  the  knights  and  singers, 
and  the  older  pilgrims,  approaches  slowly  with  the  body 
of  Elisabeth  in  an  open  bier.  As  it  reaches  the  fore- 
ground, Tannhauser  falls  dead  on  the  coffin  with  the 
words,  "Saint  Elisabeth,  pray  for  me."  At  the  same 
moment  tlie  younger  pilgrims  arrive  on  the  scene,  bear- 
ing aloft  the  Pope's  staff  covered  with  fresh  green, 
betokening  the  salvation  of  Tannhauser  through  a  mir- 
acle. Once  more  the  sublime  choral  theme  of  the 
pardoned  pilgrims  is  intoned  by  all  the  vocal  and  instru- 
mental forces  combined,  thus  bringing  the  opera  to  a 
thrilling  final  climax. 


TEE  POEM  AND   THE  MUSIC  173 


THE   POEISI   AND   THE   MUSIC 

With  the  legend  on  which  this  opera  is  based  Wagner 
had  become  familiar  as  a  boy,  in  T leek's  version,  wliich, 
however,  was  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  suggest  its  oper- 
atic possibilities  to  him.  It  was  not  till  he  came  across 
the  story  in  its  simple  popular  form  that  it  began  to 
fascinate  his  artistic  imagination,  which  also  eagerly 
seized  on  the  dramatic  significance  of  its  casual  connec- 
tion with  the  story  of  the  Vocal  Contest  in  the  Wartburg. 
Heine's  Tannhauser  poem  and  other  sources  may  have 
suggested  some  details,  but  as  a  drama,  the  plot  and 
poetry  are  as  much  his  own  as  are  the  dramas  or  epics 
of  the  great  "  literary  "  poets  that  are  based  on  legends, 
and  the  number  of  which  is  legion.  The  fact  that  so 
many  great  poets,  from  ^schylus  to  the  present  day, 
have  found  their  favorite  subjects  in  the  mythical  world, 
shows  that  Wagner  was  guided  by  a  correct  instinct 
when  he  abandoned  history  in  favor  of  legend;  and  the 
music  drama,  still  more  than  the  literary  drama  or  epic, 
craves  a  mythical  atmosphere,  because  the  primitive 
myths  of  a  great  nation  are,  like  its  folk-songs  and  prov- 
erbs, the  gems  of  feeling,  thought,  and  fancy,  freed  from 
all  alloy  and  dross  by  the  friction  of  time,  and,  like 
music  itself,  they  are  not  concerned  with  the  accidents 
of  time  and  space.  Even  the  brief  and  imperfect  synop- 
sis of  Wagner's  dramatic  poem  given  above  will  enable 
the  reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  wonderful  variety 
and  striking  contrasts  —  emotional  and  scenic  —  which 
abound  in  this  opera.  Think  of  the  wild  orgies  of  the 
bacchanal  on  the  stage,  with  tlie  rising  tide  of  voluptu- 


174  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

ous  sounds  in  the  orchestra;  of  the  passionate  scene 
between  Tannhaiiser  and  Venus,  now  threatening,  now 
pleading;  the  startling  suddenness  of  the  change  from 
the  fantastic  grotto  to  the  sunlit  Wartburg  valley ;  the 
shepherd  singing  and  blowing  his  simple  quaint  melody; 
the  appearance  of  the  pilgrims  chanting  their  solemn 
chorus,  crossing  the  stage  and  disappearing;  the  greeting 
of  Tannhauser,  and  the  joyous  septet ;  the  arrival  of  the 
hunting  party, —  and  think  that  in  the  following  acts  the 
contrasts  are  hardly  less  striking,  and  you  will  begin 
to  realize  Wagner's  unprecedented  genius  for  dramatic 
effects  suitable  for  musical  illustration.  And  these 
effects  are  not  dragged  on  by  the  hair,  for  their  own 
sake,  —  as  often  in  Myerbeer  and  others,  —  but  are  the 
natural  and  legitimate  outcome  of  the  dramatic  situation. 
In  the  second  act  we  have  the  stirring  march,  which, 
with  the  overture,  has  perhaps  done  more  to  make  Wag- 
ner popular  with  the  masses  than  anything  else  he  has 
written;  Elisabeth's  greeting;  the  vocal  contest,  in 
which,  however,  Wagner's  melodic  fount  does  not  flow  as 
freely  as  in  other  parts  of  the  opera  ;^  and  the  magnificent 
ensemble  near  the  close.  The  lover  of  stage  pageantry 
is  gratified  by  the  entrance  of  the  nobles  and  their  ladies 
in  mediaeval  attire.     But  the  climax  of  this  act  is  at  the 

1  Richard  Pohl,  in  his  brief  biography  of  Wagner  (pp.  154-157), 
makes  some  extremely  interesting  revelations  and  remarks  regarding 
this  much-discussed  contest.  Weber's  son  told  him  that  his  father  had 
once  intended  to  write  an  opera  on  the  Tannhauser  legend,  but  gave  it 
up  chiefly  on  account  of  the  difficulty  presented  by  this  vocal  contest. 
He  felt,  no  doubt,  that  this  contest  was  not  a  musical  tournament  for 
showing  off  pretty  melodies  and  fine  voices,  but  a  iwetic,  rivalry  to  ex- 
plain the  nature  of  love.  Wagner,  being  a  poet  as  well  as  a  musician, 
was  able  to  overcome  the  difficulty  by  placing  the  chief  interest  in  the 
verse  and  giving  the  vocal  music  the  character  of  an  improvisation,  in 
harmony  with  the  situation. 


TEE  POEM  AND   THE  MUSIC  175 

moment  when  Elisabeth  throws  herself  with  a  piercing 
cry  between  her  lover  and  the  swords  of  his  assailants. 
This  scene,  well  acted,  is  comparable  to  anything  in 
Shakespeare.  And  what  a  variety  of  dramatic  detail 
is  inherent  in  Tannhiluser's  role,  from  the  moment 
when  he  startles  his  hearers  with  his  Venusberg  song 
until  his  determination  to  go  to  Eorae  —  the  bewilder- 
ment, humiliation,  remorse,  admiration  of  the  heroine, 
gratitude  and  dawning  hope  as  the  thought  of  securing 
salvation  for  his  sins  occurs  to' him  —  can  be  realized  by 
those  only  who  have  seen  Albert  ISTiemann  enacting  this 
part  —  a  part  of  which  Wagner  himself  has  declared 
"  without  hesitation,  that  a  thoroughly  successful  inter- 
pretation of  it  is  the  highest  achievement  a  tenor  can 
reach  in  his  art." 

Tannhiluser's  narrative  of  his  Roman  pilgrimage  was 
voted  the  most  tedious  thing  in  the  whole  opera  by  the 
Dresdeners  in  1845,  and  by  the  "  critics  " !  To-day  this 
superb  "drama  within  a  drama,"  as  Liszt  has  aptly 
called  it,  is  rated  as  the  finest  episode  in  the  opera, 
even  by  non-Germans.  The  distinguished  Italian  critic, 
Filippo  Filippi,  wrote  in  1870  that  "this  narrative  is 
the  most  perfect  piece  in  the  opera,  in  which  musical 
expressiveness  reaches  its  climax";  while,  ten  years 
before,  the  French  Gasperini  wrote  that  it  is  "  a  master- 
work  of  realism,  passion,  and  invention.  The  melody 
—  I  speak  of  the  true,  the  divine  —  rises  in  waves  and 
without  effort.  Every  incident  of  this  sad  pilgrimage 
is  told  with  striking  eloquence."  But  to  do  justice  to 
this  musical  narrative  the  tenor  must  have  qualities  of 
which  lyric  singers  rarely  dream  —  genuine  passion,  his- 
trionic talent,  and   a  voice  which  modulates  its  clang- 


176  TANNHAUSER   IN  DRESDEN 

tints  as  well  as  its  dramatic  accents  in  harmony  with  the 
import  of  every  word.  Recited  by  such  a  tenor,  the 
Pope's  words  — 

•'  If  thou  hast  shared  the  joys  of  hell, 
If  thou  unholy  flames  hast  nursed, 
That  m  the  Hill  of  Venus  dwell, 
Thou  art  forevermore  accursed!  " 

strike  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the  hearers  and  proclaim 
Wagner  one  of  the  world's  greatest  dramatists. 

^        IS   TANNHAUSER   A   MUSIC-DRAMA? 

After  the  foregoing  remarks  this  question  may  seem 
superfluous;  but  when  we  find  Wagner  insisting  (VII. 
175)  that  Tristan  represents  a  longer  step  from  Tann- 
hauser  than  that  which  he  made  in  getting  to  Tannhduser 
from  Bienzi  and  the  typical  modern  opera,  we  feel  called 
upon  to  draw  the  distinction  between  an  opera  and  a 
•music-drama  more  finely.  Wagner's  ideal  of  a  music- 
drama  is  a  stage  play  in  which  scenery,  action,  words, 
and  music  co-operate  so  minutely  in  every  bar  that  they 
are  absolutely  inseparable,  and  lose  half  their  beauty  and 
significance  if  separated  from  each  other.  Tristan  is 
such  a  music-drama:  none  of  its  music  is  as  effective  in 
the  concert  hall  as  in  connection  with  the  drama  which 
completes  it,  and  which  it  completes.  Tannhduser  is 
not:  the  overture,  the  march,  the  choruses,  Elisabeth's 
prayer,  the  song  to  the  evening  star,  the  septet,  etc., 
are  pieces  which  are  not  seriously  marred  by  being  torn 
from  the  operatic  stage  and  placed  in  the  concert  hall. 
In  so  far  as  this  is  the  case,  Tannhduser  is,  therefore, 
not   a   music-drama,   but   an   opera  —  though   infinitely 


IS   TAyy HAULER   A   MUSIC-BBAMA?  177 

removed  from  the  old-fasliioned  Italian  opera  which 
Wagner  has  called  a  "concert  in  costume,"  and  which  is 
little  but  a  string  of  arias,  with  an  orchestra  playing  a 
simple  accompaniment  —  like  a  "huge  guitar." 

In  other  respects,  however,  Tannhduser  is  a  genuine 
music-drama.  Even  in  the  pieces  which  are  found  suit- 
able for  concert  performance  the  emotional  character  ox 
the  music  is  always  the  same  as  that  of  the  poetry  —  a.* 
witness  the  festive  march,  the  solemn  pilgrims'  chorus, 
the  pathetic  prayer,  etc.  Nor  is  there  anything  in  this 
score  comparable  to  the  cheap  operatic  apotheosis  which 
closes  the  Flying  Dutchman.  -Wagner  himself  points  out 
that  the  chief  difference  between  Tannhduser  and  preced- 
ing operas  —  by  himself  and  others  —  is  that  in  it  there 
are  no  concessions  to  the  gallery.  Even  Weber  —  who 
would  have  liked  to  be  Wagner  had  he  dared  —  liad  his 
"gallery,"  as  he  called  his  Avife  (an  experienced  singer), 
to  whom  he  appealed  whenever  he  was  afraid  that  his 
artistic  ideals  were  conflicting  too  much  with  ])opular 
taste  and  usage.  But  when  Wagner  wrote  Tannhduser, 
he  had  given  up  all  consideration  for  the  gallery.  When 
the  Flying  Dutchman  had  failed  to  please  the  gallery, 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  write  no  longer  with  an  eye 
to  immediate  popular  appreciation,  but  solely  with  a 
view  to  following  his  own  ini])ulses  and  to  winning  the 
apjoroval  ofhis  own  consoipnr-e  nnd  that^of  a  few  frieiids 
Avho  appreciated  his  ideals^__ 

I  cannot  sufficiently  urge  the  reader  to  study  the  Guide 
to  the  Performance  of  Tannhduser  (v.  161-204),  which 
Wagner  wrote  about  ten  years  after  the  production  of  the 
opera,  and  which  is  one  of  the  most  instructive  dramatur- 
gic essays  ever  written.     Being  concerned  with  concrete 


178  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

illustrations,  it  makes  his  aims  and  ideals  clearer  than 
his  more  elaborate  and  abstruse  theoretical  writings. 
In  it  he  shows  why  this  opera,  if  performed  by  mere 
singing  puppets,  loses  all  its  best  points.  He  declares 
that  even  the  shallowest  Italian  opera  would  gain  in 
effect  if  the  singers  would  try  to  bring  out  such  connec- 
tion as  may  exist  between  the  play  and  the  music,  but 
insists  that  his  own  operas  are  absolutely  ruined  unless 
this  is  done  and  the  artists  act  as  well  as  sing.  He  care- 
fully analyzes  the  principal  roles  with  the  acute  insight 
of  a  Salvini ;  explains  to  the  stage-manager  the  illustra- 
tive character  of  the  music  and  the  necessity  of  his  fol- 
lowing carefully  not  only  the  scenic  directions  printed  in 
the  libretto,  but  the  more  minute  ones  written  in  the 
orchestral  score;  and  also  gives  many  valuable  hints  to 
the  conductor  regarding  tempi  and  other  matters;  in  a 
word,  he  does  all  he  can  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  Tann- 
hduser  is  not  merely  an  opera  but  a  music-dz-ama,  wliich, 
like  an  ordinary  play,  should  first  be  read  to  the  assem- 
bled singers,  and  its  action  made  clear,  before  they  take 
their  musical  roles  home  to  study.  To  bring  about  the 
closest  possible  correspondence  between  the  singers  and 
the  players,  he  insists  that  the  words  should  be  written 
over  every  orchestral  part,  as  was  done  by  him  in  Dres- 
den. The  forty-first  letter  in  the  correspondence  with 
Liszt  contains  a  passage  which  may  be  cited,  as  it  shows 
how  unwonted  Wagner's  demands  were  —  and  how  little 
the  reformer  was  heeded  at  the  time :  — 

"  I  had  taken  pains  in  Dresden  to  have  all  the  directions  which 
threw  any  light  on  the  situations  and  dramatic  action  copied  with 
the  greatest  minuteness  into  the  parts  of  the  singers ;  but  when  it 
came  to  the  performance,  I  was  horrified  to  see  that  none  of  them 


IS   TANNHAUSEE  A   MUSIC-DRAMA?  179 

had  been  heeded.  You  can  imagine  my  amazement  when  I  saw, 
for  instance,  tliat  Taunhauser,  in  the  vocal  contest,  when  he  sings 
his  hymn  to  Venus, 

'  He  only  who  has  clasped  you  in  his  arms 
Kuows  what  it  is  to  love,' 

addressed  it,  in  the  face  of  the  wliole  assembly,  to  Elisabeth,  the 
insist  innocent  of  maidens  !  How  could  the  public  help  being  puz- 
zled and  left  in  ignorance  ?  In  truth,  I  discovered  in  Dresden  at 
the  time  that  it  was  only  through  the  text-book  that  the  audience 
could  discover  the  dramatic  contents  of  my  opera,  and  only  in  that 
way  learn  to  understand  the  performance  ! ' ' 

The  same  letter  —  which  is  dated  Sept.  8,  1850,  and 
has  almost  as  great  practical  value  for  the  performers 
and  critics  of  Wagner's  operas  as  the  Tannhauser  Guide 
just  referred  to  —  has  another  specific  example  which 
may  be  cited  for  the  light  it  throws  on  Wagner's  views 
as  to  the  function  and  treatment  of  the  orchestra  in  a 
music-drama :  — 

"  "  At  a  rehearsal  of  Tannhauser  in  Weimar  I  had  occasion  to  call 
the  attention  of  some  of  the  artists  to  their  neglect  of  the  scenic 
directions.  The  score,  for  instance,  directs  Elisabeth,  after  the 
duet  with  Tannhauser  in  the  second  act,  to  justify  the  reappearance 
of  the  tender  theme  of  the  clarinet  in  a  slower  tempo,  by  gazing 
after  Tannhauser  into  the  court  below,  and  nodding  a  farewell. 
Now,  if  she  fails  to  do  this,  the  result  is  an  insufferable  delay  of 
the  action  ;  every  bar  of  dramatic  music  can  justify  its  existence 
only  by  expressing  something  relating  to  the  action  or  the  character 
of  the  actor :  that  reminiscence  in  the  theme  of  the  clarinet,  there- 
fore, does  not  exist  for  its  own  sake,  —  say,  to  i^roduce  a  musical 
effect  which  Elisabeth  may  or  may  not  accompany  by  her  action,  — 
but  the  greeting  she  sends  after  Tannhauser  is  the  main  thing  that 
I  had  in  mind  in  composing  this  scene,  and  that  reminiscence  was 
therefore  chosen  by  me  solely  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  this  action 
of  Elisabeth.     This  example  shows  what  a  topsy-turvy  result  fol- 


180  TANNHAUSEB  IN  BRESBEN 

lows  if  the  principal  point  —  the  dramatic  action  —  is  overlooked, 
and  only  a  secondary  factor  —  the  accompaniment  of  that  action 
—  remains. ' ' 

How  far  away  all  this  takes  us  from  the  typical 
"opera,"  which  Wagner,  in  his  essay  on  Art  and  Revo- 
lution (III.  26)  defines  as  "a  chaos  of  sensuous  allure- 
ments fluttering  about  without  union  or  connection,  from 
which  everybody  can  choose  what  best  suits  his  taste, 
here  the  graceful  skip  of  a  dancer,  tliere  the  audacious 
runs  of  a  singer,  here  a  dazzling  scenic  effect,  there  the 
stunning  outbreak  of  an  orchestral  volcano  "  —  all  intro- 
duced in  the  opera  for  their  own  sake,  without  any 
connection  with  the  plot. 

/  There  is  one  more  important  respect  in  which  Tann- 
hduser  differs  from  the  typical  opera;  namely,  by  the 
frequent  use  that  is  made  in  it  of  those  reminiscent  nielo- 
difs-whic^  are  associated  with  a  particular  person,  inci- 
dent, or  dramatic  emotion,  and  which  recur  in  the  music 
whenever  the  person  or  idea  recurs  in  the  play.  These 
are  known  as  typical  or  leading  motives,  and  they  form 
such  an  important  addition  to  the  anatomy  of  the  music- 
drama —  its  very  backbone,  in  fact  —  that  a  special 
chapter  must  be  devoted  to  them  later  on,  after  consid- 
ering the  dramas  in  which  they  have  reached  their  full 
development.  In  Tannhduser  they  are  not  yet  used 
systematically  throughout  the  play,  which  therefore  can- 
not be  called  a  full-fledged  music-drama.  It  is  the  above- 
mentioned  "  concert  numbers  "  (the  march,  s_ong_i£L-the 
evening  stax.  Elisabeth's  prayer,  etc.)  that  —  however 
beautiful  they  may  be  in  themselves  —  are  objectionable 
from  this  higher  dramatic  point  of  view,  because  they 
are  not  organically  connected  with  the  rest  of  the  music. 


THE  FIRST  PERFORMANCES  181 

But,  after  all,  these  are  only  episodes  (not  undramatic  in 
themselves  either),  and  the  rest  of  the  score  is  welded 
together  by  real  "leading  motives."  A  German,  Arthur 
Smolian,  has  analyzed  the  score  and  found  as  many  as 
thirty-three  of  these  leading  motives  which  he  cites  and 
discusses  in  a  special  pamphlet.^  The  method  followed 
is  that  originated  by  Hans  von  Wolzogen  for  the  Nibe- 
lung''s  Ring ;  and  the  names  chosen  for  these  Tannliduser 
motives  may  be  quoted  for  their  suggestiveness :  — 

Theme  of  the  pardoned  pilgi-inis  ;  the  penitent  call  for  succor  ; 
the  feast  of  divine  grace  ;  the  bacchanalian  dance  ;  strains  of  mad- 
dening revelry  ;  the  riotous  shout ;  bold  yearning  ;  the  wild  cry  of 
delight ;  sin's  desire  ;  hymn  to  Venus  ;  the  temptation  melody  ; 
the  intoxicated  gestures  ;  the  senses'  mastering  spell ;  the  decoy- 
call  of  the  sirens ;  the  theme  of  peace  ;  love's  embraces ;  the  witch- 
ing glance ;  Venus' s  curse  ;  pilgrimage  theme  ;  avowal  of  belief  ; 
theme  of  thanksgiving ;  hunting  call  ;  wondering  question  and 
embarrassed  answer ;  summons  to  return  ;  song  of  joyous  trans- 
port ;  the  gracious  greeting  ;  love  of  minstrelsy  ;  the  praise  of  pure 
love  ;  the  intercession  ;  the  command  to  penance  ;  bitter  remorse  ; 
the  hymn  of  promise  ;  the  papal  ban.  These  themes  are  less  broad 
and  song-like  than  the  "  concert  numbers,"  but  are  "  condensed  to 
the  pregnant  terseness  of  the  later  leading  motives,"  as  Herr  Smo- 
lian aptly  puts  it. 

THE  FIRST   PERFORMANCES 

Although  Wagner's  second  Dresden  opera  had  failed 
to  please  the^  public,  the  royal  director  was  willing 
enougli  to  give  him  "another  show,"  probably  in  the 
belief  that  the  brilliant  success  of  Rienzi  and  the  failure 
of  the  Dutchman  had  opened  his  eyes  as  to  what  kind  of 

1  An  English  version,  by  W.  A.  Ellis,  is  published  by  Chappell  &  Co., 
London. 


182  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

an  opera  was  expected  of  him.  So  lie  took  pains  to  put 
on  the  new  work  in  the  best  style.  Schroeder-Devrient, 
Johanna  Wagner  (the  composer's  niece),  Tichatschek,  and 
Mitterwurzer  —  all  of  them  famous  names  in  operatic 
annals  —  had  the  roles  of  Venus,  Elisabeth,  Tannhauser, 
and  Wolfram;  while  the  scenery  was  specially  ordered 
in  Paris,  and  concerning  its  promised  splendors  the 
papers  had  many  preliminary  notices;  so  that,  although 
prices  had  been  almost  doubled,  the  house  was  crowded 
by  an  audience  full  of  curiosity,  including  many  who 
had  come  from  Leipzig  and  other  cities. 

The  first  performance  took  place  on  Oct.  19,  1845,  the 
fourth  on  Nov.  2.  On  Nov.  3  Wagner  sent  this  interest- 
ing letter  to  his  friend,  Gaillard,  in  Berlin :  ^  — 

"  My  Dear  and  Valued  Friend,  —  I  have  gained  a  big  action 
with  my  Tannhauser.  Let  me  give  you  a  very  short  account  of  a 
few  of  the  facts.  Owing  to  the  hoarseness  of  some  of  the  singers, 
the  second  performance  was  played  a  week  after  the  first ;  this 
was  very  bad,  for,  in  the  long  interval,  ignorance,  and  erroneous 
and  absurd  views,  fostered  by  my  enemies,  who  exerted  themselves 
vigorously,  had  full  scope  for  swaggering  about ;  and  when  the 
moment  of  the  second  performance  at  length  arrived,  my  opera 
was  on  the  point  of  failing  ;  the  house  was  not  well  filled  ;  oppo- 
sition!  prejudice!  Luckily,  however,  all  the  singers  were  as 
enthusiastic  as  ever ;  intelligence  made  a  way  for  itself,  and  the 
third  act,  somewhat  shortened,  was  especially  successful  ;  after 
the  singers  had  been  called  out,  there  was  a  tumultuous  cry  for  me. 
I  have  now  formed  a  nucleus  among  the  public  ;  at  the  third  per- 
formance there  was  a  well-filled  house  and  an  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion of  the  work.  After  every  act  the  singers  and  the  author  were 
tumultuously  applauded  ;  in  the  third  act,  at  the  words,  '  Heinrich, 
du  bist  erloest ! '  the  house  resovmded  with  an  outburst  of  enthusi- 
asm.     Yesterday,  at  length,  the  fourth  performance  took  place 

1  See  Musikalisches  Wochenblatt,  1877,  p.  411. 


THE  FIRST  PERFORMANCES  183 

before  a  house  crammed  to  suffocation  ;  after  every  act  the  singers 
were  called  out,  and  after  them,  on  each  occasion,  the  author  ;  after 
the  second  act  there  was  a  regular  tumult !  Wherever  I  show  my- 
self people  greet  me  enthusiastically.  My  dear  Gaillard,  this  is, 
indeed,  a  rare  success,  and,  under  the  circumstances,  one  for  which 
I  scarcely  hoped.  My  servant  girl,  who  was  in  the  fourth  tier, 
assures  me  that  people  round  about  her  thought  this  opera  was 
better  than  Rienzi.     What  more  can  I  want  ? 

"  I  felt  compelled  to  tell  you  this  in  the  joy  of  my  heart.  When 
I  think  of  you,  a  deep  feeling  of  thorough  melancholy  steals  over 
me,  and  springs  from  my  regret  at  bringing  you  here  for  the  first 
performance;  for  in  the  following  performances  Tichatschek  was 
much  better,  nay,  frequently  most  splendid.  How  wretchedly  I 
received  you !  in  what  a  humdrum,  wearisome  fashion  I  returned 
your  great  sacrifice  !  It  quite  oppresses  me  whenever  I  think  of  it. 
These  last  days  I  felt  as  though  I  was  stunned.  How  can  I  make 
up  for  this  ?  can  you  tell  me  ?    Farewell,  my  dear  and  noble  friend. 

"  Always  your  truly  devoted 

"Richard  Wagner." 

This  exuberant  joy  did  not,  however,  last  long,  and 
Wagner  soon  awoke  from  his  dream  to  find  that  Tann- 
hduser  was  even  less  understood,  and  destined  to  attract 
less  attention  outside  of  Dresden,  than  the  Dutchman. 
Six  years  later,  in  reviewing  these  occurrences  in  his 
autobiographic  Communication  to  my  Friends  (IV.  357) 
he  accordingly  summed  up  the  situation  as  follows :  — 

"  The  public  had  shown  me  plainly,  by  its  enthusiastic  reception 
of  Rienzi,  and  by  the  colder  treatment  of  the  Dutchman,  what  I 
must  offer  it  to  win  approval.  Its  expectations  I  disappointed 
utterly  ;  confused  and  dissatisfied  it  left  the  first  performance  of 
Tannhuuser.  I  was  overwhelmed  by  a  feeling  of  complete  isola- 
tion. The  few  friends  who  heartily  sympathized  with  me  were 
themselves  so  depressed  by  my  painful  position,  that  the  percep- 
tion of  this  sympathetic  ill-humor  was  the  only  friendly  sign  about 
me.     A  week  passed  before  we  could  give  a  second  performance, 


184  TANNHAUSEB  IN  DRESDEN 

which  was  so  much  needed  to  clear  up  erroneous  notions.  This 
week  contained  a  whole  life's  experience  for  me.  Not  wounded 
pride,  but  the  calamity  of  an  utterly  annihilated  illusion,  over- 
whelmed me.  I  saw  clearly  that  my  Tannhduser  had  appealed 
only  to  a  few  intimate  friends,  but  not  to  the  public.  .  .  .  Thanks 
to  the  good  will  of  the  director,  and  above  all  to  the  zeal  and 
talents  of  the  artists,  my  opera  gradually  succeeded  in  making  its 
way  (it  had  seven  performances  in  nine  weeks  and  was  resumed 
the  next  season).  But  this  success  could  not  deceive  me  any 
more  ;  I  now  k7iew  how  I  stood  with  the  public,  and  if  any  doubts 
had  remained,  my  subsequent  experiences  would  have  soon  removed 
them." 

But  what  was  the  matter  with  the  public  that  Wagner 
should  have  been  so  disappoiuted  witli  it?  What  more 
could  it  do  than  attend  his  opera  twenty  times?  An 
excellent  answer  to  this  is  contained  in  the  sixty-seventh 
letter  to  Uhlig :  — 

"If  I  express  dissatisfaction  with  the  success  of  my  operas,  I 
naturally  do  not  mean  outward  success  (for  could  I  have  demanded 
more  than  to  be  called  before  the  curtain  at  every  performance  of 
Tannhduser?),  but  merely  the  character  of  the  success,  which  made 
me  see  that  the  essential  in  my  work  had  not  been  grasped." 

In  one  word,  the  public  cared  only  for  the  operatic  fea- 
tures —  the  lyric  parts  —  in  Tannhduser,  and  failed  to 
appreciate  its  great  significance  as  a  music-drama.  To 
some  extent,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  singers  were 
to  blame  for  this;  for  although  they  were  the  best  in 
Germany,  Wagner's  dramatic  style  of  vocalism  was  so 
new  to  them  that  they  did  not  feel  at  home  in  it,  as 
present-day  dramatic  singers  do.  Hence  he  was  obliged 
to  make  several  cuts  in  the  parts  of  Tannhiiuser  and 
Elisabeth  —  cuts  which  destroyed  the  unity  of  the  score 
and  obscured  some  of  its  most  important  points.     The 


THE  FIRST  PERFORMANCES  185 

Tannhiiuser  Guide  (^^ol.  V.)  gives  all  the  instructive  de- 
tails ;  and  here,  too,  Wagner  exclaims :  — 

"  Any  intelligent  person  may  judge  what  must  have  been  my 
attitude  toward  the  external  success  of  my  work  in  Dresden,  and 
whether  twenty  performances,  each  with  a  '  recall '  of  the  author, 
could  compensate  me  for  the  gnawing  conviction  that  a  great  share 
of  the  applause  was  based  on  a  misconception  of  my  artistic  aims." 

All  of  which  may  seem  eccentric  to  some  persons ;  but 
if  Wagner  had  not  been  "eccentric,"  he  would  not  have 
become  the  creator  of  the  modern  music-drama. 

One  of  the  most  regrettable  consequences  of  these 
omissions  was  that,  although  most  of  them  were  based 
on  purely  local  causes,  they  were  afterwards  ignorantly 
adopted  in  other  opera-houses  as  having  been  "sanc- 
tioned by  the  author."  An  interesting  case  in  point  is 
the  chorus  of  the  younger  pilgrims  with  the  green  staff, 
at  the  close  of  the  opera.  In  the  thirty-sixth  letter  to 
Uhlig  Wagner  directs  that  this  miracle  scene  must  be 
completely  restored :  — 

' '  The  reason  for  leaving  out  the  announcement  of  the  miracle 
in  the  Dresden  change  was  quite  a  local  one:  the  chorus  was 
always  poor,  flat,  and  uninteresting ;  moreover,  an  imposing  scenic 
effect  —  a  splendid,  gradual  sunrise  —  was  wanting.  But  here, 
where  I  wish  to  express  my  idea  to  the  full,  that  consideration  has 
no  longer  any  weight  with  me." 

All  these  things  —  the  mutilations,  misconceptions, 
and  misinterpretations  —  finally  combined  to  make  him 
exclaim  in  another  letter  to  Uhlig  (1852),  "  The  remem- 
brances of  the  Dresden  TannJiduser  are  a  torture  to  me." 
And  a  few  months  later :  — 

"  Do  you  know  that  the  revival  of  Tannhduser  at  Dresden  has 
had  quite  an  uncomfortable  effect  on  me  ?     From  all  my  informa- 


186  TANNHAUSEB  IN  DRESDEN 

tion,  I  am  convinced  that  even  now  Tannhauser  has  won  no  right 
to  genuine  success  in  Dresden.  .  .  .  The  chief  blame  for  this,  I 
maintain,  lies  in  the  defects  of  the  performance.  The  real  Tann- 
hauser is  not  made  manifest  at  all,  no  sympathy  is  aroused  for  it. 
.  .  .  This  Dresden,  had  I  remained  in  it,  would  have  become  the 
grave  of  my  art." 

WHY  THE   ENDING   WAS   CHANGED 

From  all  these  citations  we  can  see  that  every  cut 
which  Wagner  reluctantly  made  in  his  score  at  Dresden 
in  order  to  facilitate  its  performance  must  have  been  a 
suicidal  stab  at  his  own  heart,  because  it  made  it  the 
more  diflficult  for  the  public  to  realize  his  intentions. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  saw  his  own  shortcomings  quite  as 
clearly  as  those  of  his  singers.  There  were  several  places 
in  the  score  that  did  not  satisfy  him  when  he  heard 
them  on  the  stage ;  these  he  immediately  went  to  work 
to  improve.  One  of  these  was  the  introduction  to  the 
last  act,  concerning  which  he  wrote  to  Liszt,  some  years 
later  {Correspondence,  No.  72)  that 

"  in  Tannhauser's  narrative  (Act  III.)  the  trombones,  in  the 
reminiscence  of  Rome,  do  not  at  all  produce  the  right  impression 
unless  this  theme  has  been  heard  before  in  its  fullest  splendor, 
as  I  give  it  in  the  (revised)  instrumental  instruction  to  the  third 
act." 

Of  greater  importance  was  the  improvement  which  he 
made  in  the  last  scene  of  the  opera.  In  the  first  version, 
Venus  with  her  attendants  did  not  actually  appear  to 
the  vision  again,  but  was  only  hinted  at  by  a  red  glow 
on  the  neighboring  Venusberg,  nor  was  Elisabeth's  body 
brought  on  the  stage,  the  funeral  being  only  announced 
by  distant  bell-ringing.     Why  Wagner  altered  this   is 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS     187 

most  vividly  brought  out  in  two  passages  from  his  let- 
ters to  Uhlig  (No.  32)  and  to  Liszt  (No.  72).  To  Uhlig 
he  wrote:  — 

"You  have  not  grasped  the  right  meaning  of  the  ending  of 
Tannhiiiiser.  This  ending  is  no  alteration,  but  a  rectification, 
which,  unfortunately,  I  could  only  make  after  seeing  the  work  on 
the  stage,  when  I  became  convinced  that  the  former  ending  only 
gave  a  hint  of  what  had  to  be  actually  communicated  to  the  senses. 
I  understand  that  slaves  of  custom  prefer  the  first  (because  accus- 
tomed) ending  —  and  all  the  more  as  the  rectification  in  Dresden 
was  insufficiently  carried  out  so  far  as  stage  management  was  con- 
cerned. But  in  a  certain  sense  I  am  ashamed  of  the  first  version 
of  the  end  which,  in  truth,  is  only  a  sketch :  it  should  therefore 
cease  to  be  known,  and  of  course  disappear  entirely  from  the  piano- 
forte score." 

"The  mere  illumination  of  the  Venusberg"  (he  wrote  to  Liszt) 
"  was  only  a  hint :  to  make  the  magic  real,  Venus  has  to  come  and 
show  herself.  How  true  this  is  you  may  see  from  the  fact  that  this 
very  added  scene  suggested  to  me  a  wealth  of  new  musical  mate- 
rial. Examine  the  scene  with  Venus  in  the  last  act,  and  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  the  first  version  compares  to  it  as  an  engraving 
does  to  an  oil-painting.  So  it  is  also  with  the  appearance  of  Elisa- 
beth's body :  when  Tannhauser  sinks  down  before  that  itself  and 
sings,  '  Sainted  Elisabeth,  pray  for  me,'  we  have  the  full  present- 
ment of  what  before  was  only  hinted  at. "  ^ 

CRITICAL   PHILISTINES   AND   PROPHETS 

So  far  as  the  public  and  the  enlightened  critics  of  that 
time  were  concerned,  Wagner  might  have  spared  him- 
self the  trouble  of  improving  his  score.  One  of  the  crit- 
ics declared  that  the  new  ending  was  "  quite  as  bad  as 
the  first,"  and  that  was  the  keynote  of  almost  all  the 

1  The  still  more  important  chan.ixes  which  he  made  fifteen  years  later 
in  the  "  Paris  version  "  of  Tannliuuser  will  be  considered  iu  the  chap- 
ter ou  "  Tannhauser  iu  Paris." 


188  TANNIIAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

criticisms.  Schroeder-Devrient  herself,  who  was  not  a 
particularly  successful  Venus,  told  Wagner:  "You  are 
a  man  of  genius,  but  you  write  such  eccentric  stuff,  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  sing  it " ;  while  the  royal  director,  von 
Liittichau,  tried  to  make  clear  to  him  that  in  one  thing, 
at  any  rate,  Weber  was  his  superior,  inasmuch  as  he 
knew  how  to  give  his  operas  a  happy  ending.^ 

The  Dresden  correspondent  of  the  JSfeue  Zeitschrift  fur 
Musik  analyzes  Tannhauser  at  some  length  to  prove  "  its 
utter  lack  of  character-drawing,"  which,  in  view  of  the 
highly  intellectual  and  dramatic  character  of  the  opera 
librettos  produced  up  to  that  date,  gives  us  a  delightful 
insight  into  German  critical  judgment.  The  same  writer 
fortifies  his  position  by  adding  that  "nothing  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  the  author  was  called  before  the  curtain, 
for  the  same  distinction  was  conferred  last  year  on  the 
composer  of  two  operas  which  disappeared  from  the 
repertory  after  the  fourth  performance."  A  distin- 
guished musical  pedagogue  of  the  time,  Moritz  Haupt- 
mann,  heard  the  Tamiliciuser  overture  in  1846  and 
pronovmced  it  "quite  atrocious,  incredibly  awkward  in 
construction,  long  and  tedious  for  such  a  sensible  per- 
son. .  .  .  He  is  no  longer  young  and  inexperienced,  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  a  man  who  will  not  only  write  such 
a  thing,  but  actually  have  it  engraved,  has  little  call  for 

1  An  amusing  illustration  of  this  popular  craving  for  "  happy  end- 
ings" is  to  be  found  in  the  theatrical  chronicles  of  Hamburg.  The 
*nerves  of  some  of  the  spectators  were  so  nuich  affected  by  the  first 
performance  of  Shakespeare's  Othello  that  the  city  fathers  ordered  the 
manager  to  alter  the  end  of  the  play.  So  Othello  and  Desdemona  "  kiss 
and  make  up,"  and  everybody  leaves  the  theatre  happy !  By  a  curious 
coincidence  another  Tannhauser,  with  a  happy  ending,  was  written 
about  the  same  time  as  Wagner's,  and  independently  of  it,  by  Mangold ; 
but  its  happy  ending  did  not  keep  it  above  water. 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS     189 

an  artistic  career."^  This  is  the  same  overture  which 
Mendelssohn  is  said  to  have  once  conducted  at  a  Ge- 
wandhaus  concert  as  "a  warning  example";  the  same 
overture  concerning  which  the  London  Times  of  May  14, 
1855,  {ten  years  after  the  Dresden  premiere,)  wrote: 
"  Nothing  is  known  in  this  country  excepting  the  overture 
of  Tannhduser,  which  was  heard  with  equal  indifference 
by  the  public  in  the  concerts  of  the  New  Philharmonic 
and  Mr.  Jullien,  and  is,  at  the  best,  but  a  commonplace 
display  of  noise  and  extravagance";  the  same  overture 
of  which  the  distinguished  French  critic  Fetis  wrote  that 
it  begins  with  "a  poor  choral,  badly  harmonized.  .  .  . 
This  choral  is  the  only  spark  of  melody  in  the  whole 
piece,  and  what  a  melody !  " 

If  the  overture  fared  so  badly  at  the  hands  of  the 
critics,  one  can  imagine  what  became  of  the  opera  itself 
under  their  treatment  —  a  treatment  which  varied  but 
little  in  the  different  cities  and  remained  unchanged  for 
two  or  three  decades.  A  correspondent  at  Frankfurt 
wrote  in  1853  (Feb.  15)  that  "the  last  performance  was 

^  One  can  imagine  how  sarcastically  this  amiahle  old  pedant  (who 
called  Weber,  as  well  as  Gluck  and  Wagner,  au  "amateur")  would 
have  smiled  had  any  one  predicted  to  him  that  long  before  the  end  of 
the  century  the  profits  on  the  sales  of  this  overture  in  the  various  ar- 
rangements would  alone  suffice  to  snpport  a  publisher  with  a  pretty 
large  family.  How  great  the  popularity  of  this  overture  is  to-day  even 
in  England,  which  has  not  exactly  kept  in  the  van  in  the  growing  appre- 
ciation of  Wagner,  may  be  inferred  from  the  account  given  in  the  Lon- 
don Saturday  Revietc  a  few  years  ago  of  one  of  Mr.  Manns's  Crystal 
Palace  Concerts,  at  wliich  the  audience  was  allowed  to  vote  for  the 
instrumental  pieces  on  the  programme.  "Of  symphonies  the  choice 
fell  on  Beethoven's  Pastoral.  ...  In  tlie  overtures,  however,  Wagner 
scored  a  great  triumph,  that  to  Tannh'duser  being  accepted  with  .'517 
votes,  while  Mendelssolin's  Midsummer  Nir/ht's  Dream  and  Rossini's 
William  Tell  secured  second  and  third  places,  with  253  and  13G  respec- 
tively." 


190  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

given  before  an  alarmingly  small  audience.  Conductor 
and  director  are  undecided  whether  they  should  con- 
tinue giving  Wagner's  operas!  "  Somewhat  later  it  was 
announced  that  "  Tannhduser,  so  far  as  the  public  is 
concerned,  may  be  considered  a  thing  of  the  past,  where- 
as Flotow's  Indra  has  become  a  drawing  card  [A'assen- 
oper']."  A  Berlin  critic  declared  that  "Wagner's  music 
is  a  great  musical  sin,  which  the  public  will  no  more 
pardon  than  the  Pope  pardoned  Tannhauser's  sins."  ^ 
"An  opera  without  song"  is  what  Dr.  Schliiter  in  his 
History  of  Music  (1865)  calls  Tannhduser.  Otto  Jahn, 
the  biographer  of  Mozart,  published  a  savage  attack  on 
Tannhduser  in  the  Grenzboten  (1853).  He  admits  that 
the  text  is  greatly  superior  to  the  ordinary  librettos,  and 
then  goes  on  to  devote  six  pages  to  what  he  considers  its 
faults,  while  not  a  line  is  given  to  its  merits!  The 
music  fares  quite  as  badly,  if  not  worse,  its  merits 
being  nowhere  alluded  to  except  in  the  last  sentence, 
where  they  are  summed  up  in  two  condescending  words 
einiges  gelungen  —  "A  few  successful  details."  So  far 
from  being  music  of  the  future,  he  concludes,  "  it  is  not 
even  good  enough  for  the  present"  (1853).  We  shall 
meet  this  eminent  Mozart  biographer  again  in  the  chap- 
ter on  Lohengrin. 

The  English  critics,  as  soon  as  they  got  a  chance  at 

1  These  three  choice  specimens  are  translated  from  Tappert,  who,  in 
his  Wagner  biograpliy,  and  especially  in  his  Wagner  Lexicon,  has  gath- 
ered many  other  amusing  "criticisms  "  on  Wagner  and  his  music.  This 
Lexicon  is  simply  a  collection  of  coarse  and  insulting  epithets  hurled 
against  Wagner.  Although  it  is  a  pamphlet  of  forty-eight  pages,  it  is 
very  far  from  being  complete,  as  I  have  in  my  own  note  and  scrap 
books  material  enough  for  another  pamphlet  of  the  same  size.  Some 
of  the  most  edifying  of  these  are  quoted  in  this  chapter  and  following 
ones  as  a  sort  of  releve  between  the  aesthetic  and  biographic  courses. 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS     191 

AYagner,  were  determined  not  to  be  outdone  by  their 
German  colleagues.  The  historian,  John  Hullah,  wrote : 
"  I  find  in  the  pieces  of  which  Tannhduser  is  composed 
an  entire  absence  of  musical  construction  and  coiie- 
rence  (!);  little  melody,  and  that  of  the  most  mesquin 
kind;  and  harmony  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  restless, 
purposeless,  and  seemingly  helpless  modulation."  Much 
more  spicy  are  the  remarks  of  the  eminent  critic  H.  F. 
Chorley :  "  I  have  never  been  so  blanked,  pained,  wearied, 
insulted  even  (the  word  is  not  too  strong),  by  a  work  of 
pretension  as  by  this  same  Tannhduser,"  the  music  of 
which  is  "  in  entire  discordance  with  its  subject "  ( !) ; 
"when  a  tune  (!)  had  presented  itself  he  used  it  without 
caring  for  its  fitness."  (Did  Chorley  get  his  notes  of  a 
Wagner  and  a  Donizetti  opera  mixed  up  ?)  Of  the 
great  narrative  in  the  third  act  he  says :  "  I  remember 
the  howling,  whining,  bawling  of  Herr  Tichatschek  — 
to  sing  or  vocally  declaim  this  scene  is  impossible." 
"The  instrumentation  is  singularly  unpleasant "  (!). 
Finally,  the  opera  is  summed  up  as  "shrill  noise,  and 
abundance  of  what  a  wit  with  so  happy  a  disrespect 
designated  'broken  crockery  effects' — things  easy 
enough  to  be  produced  by  those  whose  audacity  is  equal 
to  their  eccentricity." 

But  it  is  in  their  favorite  role  of  Prophets  that  Wag- 
ner's critics  become  most  amusing.  To  the  unconverted  ^ 
or  to  those  unfamiliar  with  the  opera,  the  humor  of  the 
foregoing  "criticisms"  may  not   be   as   obvious,   or  at 

1  That  there  are  such  still,  even  in  the  musical  centre  known  as  Bos- 
ton, is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  critic  of  the  Home  Journal  of  that 
(tity  not  lonu  ago  summed  up  his  opinion  of  Tannhauser  in  these  words: 
"Dramatically,  it  is  slow  and  devoid  of  interest;  musically,  it  is  bru- 
tal."   His  name  is  Philip  Hale ;  he  signed  it !    Date :  April  12, 1890. 


192  TANNEAUSER  IN   DRESDEN 

least  not  so  vivid,  as  it  might  be ;  but  when  it  comes  to 
the  prophesies  we  deal  with  jokes  which  are  vivified  for 
everybody  by  what  is  usually  a  most  dry  subject ;  namely, 
statistics.  Official  statistics  show  that  in  the  operatic 
year  for  July  1,  1889,  to  July  1,  1890,  Tannhtiuser  was 
performed  189  times  in  German  theatres  alone,  and  247 
times  in  1890-91.  It  has  had  over  three  hundred  per- 
formances in  Berlin  and  over  two  hundred  in  several 
other  German  cities. 

Half  a  dozen  of  these  prophecies  may  serve  as  sam- 
ples.    Let  us  take  them  chronologically. 

1846:  The  author  of  a  book  called  Dresden  und  die 
Dresdener  writes :  "  Wagner  is  no  artist,  either  in  taste 
or  in  creativeness.      Time  will  judge!  " 

1847 :  Moritz  Hauptmann  writes :  "  I  do  not  believe 
that  of  Wagner's  compositions  a  single  one  will  survive 
him." 

1852 :  Fetis  (pere)  has  three  articles  on  Wagner  in  the 
Gazette  Musicale,  concerning  which  Wagner  writes  to 
Uhlig  {Letters,  No.  67) :  "  He  claims  '  exact  information, ' 
and  asserts,  for  example,  that  my  Tannhtiuser  in  Dresden 
had  by  the  third  performance  become  such  a  failure  that 
it  could  never,  by  any  possibility,  be  revived."  (Tann- 
hduser  had  its  hundredth  performance  in  Dresden  in 
1872.) 

1856:  Dr.  E.  Schmidt  (Berlin)  calls  Tannhduser  a  Dis- 
sonanz-Musik  which  will  disappear  after  the  second  per- 
formance. 

1862:  A  Paris  correspondent  of  the  Signale,  review- 
ing the  Tannhduser  performances,  writes :  "  We  are  hap- 
pily done  with  this  nonsense,  which  in  Germany,  too, 
will  not  continue  much  longer  to  excite  angry  debates.'' 


LISZT,  SPOHR,  AND   SCHUMANN  193 

1875:  Fdtis  writes  in  his  Biograxihie  des  Musiciens: 
"  The  ridicule  with  which  the  Parisians  covered  his  Tann- 
hduser  has  not  been  without  its  influence  on  public  opin- 
ion, for  since  1861  there  has  been  a  noticeable  decline  in 
the  Wagner  movement  in  Germany."  (The  first  Bay- 
reuth  festival  was  in  1876!) 

And  so  on,  up  to  the  present  day;  for,  as  I  said  in  the 
chapter  on  the  Dutchman,  some  of  the  Prophets  are  still 
at  their  trade,  or,  if  they  have  given  up  the  early  operas 
as  hopelessly  popular,  they  now  make  all  the  more  dire 
predictions  about  Tristan  and  the  Nihelung^s  Ring.  All 
of  which  reminds  one  of  Artemus  Ward's  kangaroo, 
which  was  "an  amoosin'  but  onprincipled  cuss."  ^ 

LISZT,    SPOHR,    AND    SCHUMANN 

As  TannJidnser  is  now  accepted  everywhere  as  a  mas- 
terwork,  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  try  to  offset  the  fore- 
going criticisms  by  quoting  the  opinions  of  real  critics. 
It  is  of  interest  to  see,  however,  what  three  of  Wagner's 
greatest  colleagues  thought  of  this  opera. 

Liszt,  who  was  the  first  Kapellmeister  to  bring  out 
Tannhduser,  which  had  been  universally  ignored  for  four 
years  after  its  2^'>'6'>ni^i'&  in  Dresden,  also  wrote  an  admi- 
rable critical  analysis  of  it  in  which  occur  these  sen- 
tences :  — 

"  As  the  text  of  Tannhauser  is  written  with  deep  poetic  feeling, 
and  constitutes  in  itseli  an  affecting  drama,  full  of  the  most  subtle 

1  The  manaf^ers  were  determined  not  to  be  outdone  by  the  newspaper 
critics.  Thus,  while  a  Dresden  critic  (hic'larccl  tliat  tlie  oi)era  was  too 
"  firamatic,"  a  Leipzif^  critic  said  it  was  too  "  lyric,"  and  Manaj^er  von 
Kiistuer  of  Berlin  refused  the  score  on  the  ground  tliat  it  was  "too 
epic"  (Tappert  in  Musikal.  Wochenblalt,  Jnly  20,  1877). 


194  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

shades  of  sentiment  and  passion  ;  as  its  plot  is  original  and  boldly- 
conceived,  the  verses  beautiful,  often  very  beautiful,  full  of  sudden 
flashes  of  sublime  and  powerful  emotion,  —  so  the  music  likewise 
is  new,  and  demands  special  consideration." 

' '  However  great  as  a  poet  he  may  be,  it  is  nevertheless  only  in 
the  music  that  he  finds  the  means  for  the  complete  expression  of 
his  feelings,  —  so  complete,  in  fact,  that  he  alone  can  tell  us  whether 
he  adapts  his  words  to  his  melodies,  or  seeks  melodies  for  his 
words."  1 

Spohr,  who  had  been  the  first  to  adopt  the  Dutchman 
for  his  theatre  at  Cassel,  would  have  also  anticipated 
Liszt  with  Tannhduser  if  he  coiild  have  had  his  own 
way.  He  wanted  to  bring  it  out  at  the  birthday  of  the 
Kurprinz,  but  could  not  get  permission,  which  led  him  to 
write  a  letter  to  Wagner  expressing  his  great  disappoint- 
ment. Some  time  later  he  wrote  again,  proposing  a 
rendezvous  at  Leipzig,  which  Wagner  joyously  accepted. 
The  following  letter,  printed  in  Spohr' s  Autobiography, 
is  of  special  interest,  as  it  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  Wagner's 
personality,  and  social  life  at  this  time.  It  refers  to  a 
dinner  at  the  house  of  Wagner's  brother-in-law,  the  pub- 
lisher Brockhaus,  at  which  Laube  also  was  present :  — 

"  Best  of  all  we  liked  Wagner,  who  appears  to  me  more  amiable 
every  time  I  meet  him,  and  whose  liberal  culture  and  universal 
knowledge  compel  us  to  admire  him  more  and  more.  Among 
other  things  he  gave  us  his  views  on  political  matters  with  a  warm 
enthusiasm  which  truly  surprised  us,  and  pleased  us  all  the  more 
as  his  views  were  of  a  very  liberal  kind.  The  evening  we  passed 
most  pleasantly  at  the  Mendelssohns',  who  did  everything  they 
could  to  make  themselves  agreeable  to  Spohr,  whose  last  quartet 
was  played,  Mendelssohn  and  Wagner  following  it  in  the  score 
with  an  expression  of  delight." 

^  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did  neither,  but  generally  conceived  them 
simultaneously,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter. 


LISZT,  SPOHE,  AND   SCHUMANN  195 

In  1853,  Spohr  at  last  succeeded  in  producing  Taini 
hciuser  at  Cassel.     He  was  then  seventy-nine  ^years  of 
age,  but  not  too  old  to  be  humble  and  learn  to  like  what 
at  first  seemed  eccentric  (as  works  of  genius  that  create 
a  new  epoch  always  do) :  — 

'•  The  ojiera  contains  much  that  is  new  and  beautiful,"  he  wrote, 
"also  several  ugly  attacks  on  one's  ears."  Concerning  these, 
however,  he  adds  :  "A  good  deal  that  I  disliked  at  first  I  have 
got  accustomed  to  on  repeated  hearing ;  only  the  absence  of  defi- 
nite rhythms  and  the  frequent  lack  of  rounded  periods  continue  to 
disturb  me." 

Among  the  great  musicians  whom  Wagner  knew  per- 
sonally was  Robert  Schumann,  equally  famous  as  com- 
poser and  as  critic  —  a  critic  who  made  a  sort  of  specialty 
of  the  "discovery"  of  new  geniuses  (Chopin,  Berlioz, 
Brahms,  Franz,  etc.),  and  whose  opinion  of  Wagner  must 
therefore  be  of  especial  interest.  This  opinion,  however, 
underwent  such  extraordinary  fluctuations  that  it  was 
obviously  influenced  somewhat  by  non-musical  considera- 
tions. Thus  in  1845  he  wrote  to  Mendelssohn  concern- 
ing Tannhiiuser :  — 

"  Wagner  has  just  finished  a  new  opera  :  no  doubt  a  clever  fel- 
low, full  of  eccentric  notions,  and  bold  beyond  measure.  The 
aristocracy  is  still  in  raptures  over  him  on  account  of  his  Bienzi, 
but  in  reality  he  cannot  conceive  or  write  four  consecutive  bars  of 
good  or  even  correct  music.  What  all  these  composers  lack  is  the 
art  of  writing  pure  harmonies  and  four-part  choruses.  The  music 
is  not  a  straw  better  than  that  of  liicnzi, — rather  weaker,  more 
artificial !  But  if  I  wrote  this  I  should  be  accused  of  envy  ;  hence 
I  say  it  oidy  to  you,  as  I  am  aware  that  you  have  known  all  this  a 
long  time." 

Three  weeks  later,  hoAvever,  he  writes  again  :  — 


196  TANNHAUSER  IN  DRESDEN 

"I  must  take  back  much  of  what  I  wrote  regarding  Tannhduser, 
after  reading  tlie  score  ;  on  the  stage  the  effect  is  quite  different. 
I  was  deeply  moved  by  many  parts." 

To  another  friend,  Heinrich  Dorn,  he  writes  a  few 
weeks  later  still :  —  ' 

"  I  wish  you  could  see  Wagner's  Tannhduser.  It  contains  pro- 
found and  original  ideas,  and  is  a  hundred  times  better  than  his 
previous  operas,  though  some  of  the  music  is  trivial.  In  a  word, 
he  may  become  of  great  importance  to  the  stage,  and,  so  far  as  I 
know  him,  he  has  the  requisite  courage.  The  technical  part,  the 
instrumentation,  I  find  excellent,  incomparably  more  masterly 
than  formerly." 

So  the  same  opera  which,  on  imperfect  acquaintance, 
strikes  Schumann  as  being  "not  a  straw  better"  than 
Rienzi,  turns  out,  at  the  performance,  to  be  "  a  hundred 
times  better  " !  Eight  years  later  he  once  more  returned 
to  the  subject  and  delivered  this  extraordinary  criti- 
cism :  — 

"  Wagner  is,  if  I  may  express  myself  briefly,  not  a  good  musi. 
cian  ;  he  lacks  the  sense  of  form  and  euphony  (!).  But  you  must 
not  judge  him  by  piano-scores.  There  are  many  places  in  his 
operas  which,  if  you  could  hear  them  on  the  stage,  would  certainly 
move  you  deeply.  And  though  it  be  not  the  clear  sunlight  that 
emanates  from  genius,  still  it  is  a  secret  magic  that  takes  possession 
of  our  senses.  But,  as  I  have  said,  the  music,  apart  from  the  rep- 
resentation, is  weak,  often  simply  amateurish,  empty  and  disagree- 
able ;  and  it  is  a  sad  proof  of  corrupt  taste  that  in  the  face  of  the 
many  dramatic  masterworks  which  Germany  has  produced,  some 
persons  have  the  presumption  to  belittle  these  in  favor  of  Wag- 
ner's. Yet  enough  of  this.  The  future  will  pronounce  judgment 
in  this  matter,  too." 

It  has  pronounced  judgment  —  as  witness  the  thousand 
and  more  performances  of  Wagner's  operas  now  given 
annually,  four  decades  after  Schumann's  prophecy.     The 


LISZT,  SPOHR,  AND   SCHUMANN  197 

most  extraordinary  thing  in  the  above  criticism  is  the 
charge  that  Wagner  has  no  sense  of  euphony  —  Wagner, 
who  has  charmed  into  existence  a  whole  tropical  garden 
of  gorgeous,  fragrant  flowers  of  undreamt-of  beauty  and 
colors ! 

But  the  cause  of  Schumann's  aversion  to  Wagner  lies 
deeper.  It  is  the  same  old  story  of  the  lyric  composer  con- 
demning the  dramatic,  and  vice  versa,  with  which  readers 
of  the  biographies  of  Weber,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn, 
Handel,  Gluck,  etc.,  are  familiar.  In  Schumann's  case 
this  attitude  was  aggravated  by  professional  jealousy;  for 
he  too  had  written  an  opera,  Genoveva,  which,  being  un- 
dramatic,  was  an  utter  failure,  while  Wagner's  operas 
became  more  and  more  popular  year  by  year.  On  this  sub- 
ject Wagner  himself  has  given  us  some  interesting  reve- 
lations in  one  of  his  last  essays  (Vol.  X.  pp.  222,  223)  :  — 

"  My  successes  at  the  Dresden  Court  Theatre  attracted,  among 
others,  F.  Hiller  and  R.  Schumann  into  my  neighborhood,  prima- 
rily, perhaps,  only  to  find  out  how  it  happened  that  a  hitherto 
unknown  German  composer  could  persistently  attract  the  public  at 
one  of  the  most  important  German  opera-houses.  That  I  was  not 
much  of  a  musician  these  two  friends  soon  believed  to  have  dis- 
covered ;  hence  they  fancied  that  my  success  must  be  attributed 
to  the  text-books  written  by  myself.  I,  too,  was,  indeed,  of  the 
opinion  that  they,  since  both  were  planning  the  composition  of  an 
opera,  should  be  advised,  above  all  things,  to  provide  themselves 
with  good  poems.  My  assistance  was  asked  for,  but  when  it  came 
to  the  decisive  moment,  it  was  declined,  presumably  from  fear  that. 
I  might  play  mean  tricks  on  them.  Concerning  my  Lohengrin 
text  Schumann  declared  that  it  was  not  suitable  for  operatic  compo- 
sition,^  wherein  he  differed   from  Conductor-in-chief  Taubert,  in 

1  Schumann  liiniself  was  meditatin}^  an  opera  on  the  same  subject, 
and  was  tlierofore  unpleasantly  surprised  when  Wagner  one  day  showed 
him  his  completed  Lohnni/rin  poem,  —  another  source  of  critical 
"  tears"  (see  letter  to  Meudelssolm,  Nov.  18,  1845). 


198  TANNHAUSER   IN  DRESDEN 

Berlin,  who  later  on,  when  my  music  to  this  opera  had  also  been 
completed  and  performed,  declared  that  he  felt  like  composing  the 
text  once  more,  for  himself.  When  Schumann  was  arranging  his 
own  Genoveva  text  I  found  it  impossible  to  persuade  him  to  give 
up  the  unfortunate  and  silly  third  act  as  he  had  conceived  it ;  he 
became  angry,  and  obviously  believed  that  I  intended  by  my  inter- 
ference to  spoil  his  most  brilliant  effects.  For  effects  were  what 
he  was  after,"  etc. 

Elsewhere  Wagner  speaks  of  Schumann's  '"shallow 
bombast,"  his  "obscurity,"  his  "limited  faculties";  and 
in  a  conversation  ^  he  once  exclaimed :  "  Schumann  was, 
after  all,  a  dear  good  German  fellow  with  a  certain 
tendency  to  greatness !  "  —  whence  we  see  that  there  was 
not  much  love  lost  —  more's  the  pity !  —  between  these 
two  composers.  Yet,  on  the  other  side,  Wagner  (VIII. 
317)  admits  Schumann  to  have  been  "the  most  gifted 
and  poetic  "  musician  of  the  period  following  Beethoven; 
and,  finally,  it  must  be  remembered  that  here,  as  in  the 
case  of  Mendelssohn,  it  was  not  Wagner  ivho  threw  the 
first  stone. 

1  Reported  by  Wolzogen,  Erinnerungen  an  Wagner,  p.  34. 


REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC   AND 
POLITICAL 

CREATION   OF  LOHENGRIN 

Genius  has  been  defined  as  "  an  infinite  capacity  for 
taking  pains."  One  of  Wagner's  most  striking  traits 
certainly  was  an  extraordinary  restlessness  and  love  of 
work.  Hardly  had  he  completed  Tannhauser  when  the 
sketches  for  Lohengrin  and  Die  Meistersinyer  were  put  on 
paper,  within  a  few  weeks,  during  an  excursion  to  the 
mountains  "/or  rest."     Hear  his  own  story  (IV.  349)  :  — 

"Immediately  after  the  composition  of  Tannhauser  I  had  an 
opportunity  to  make  an  excursion,  for  my  recreation,  to  a  Bohe- 
mian bathing-resort.  Here,  as  always  when  I  escaped  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  footlights  and  my  official  'duties,'  I  soon  felt  relieved 
and  happy  ;  for  the  first  time  a  kind  of  humor  [Heiterkeit,  gayety] 
peculiar  to  my  character  assumed  an  artistic  form.  With  almost 
arbitrary  deliberateness  I  had  been  gradually  making  up  my  mind 
to  choose  a  cumic  subject  for  my  next  opera  ;  I  remember  that  I 
was  assisted  in  this  intention  by  the  well-meant  advice  of  good 
friends,  who  wished  me  to  compose  an  opera  of  a  'lighter  genre,' 
which  might  help  to  introduce  me  in  the  German  theatres,  and 
thus  lead  up  to  a  financial  success,  the  need  of  which  had  begun  to 
assume  a  threatening  importance.  As  with  the  Athenians  a  merry 
satyr-play  followed  the  tragedy,  so,  during  that  excursion,  I  sud- 
denly ccmceived  the  idea  of  a  comic  play  which  niiglit  follow  my 
Minstrels'  Contest  in  the   Wartburg  as   a   significant  satyr-play. 

199 


200      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

This  was  the  Mastersingers  of  Nuremberg,  with  Hans  Sachs  at 
their  head.   .  .  . 

"Scarcely  had  I  finished  the  sketch  of  this  plot  when  the  plan 
of  Lohengrin  began  to  engage  my  attention,  and  left  me  no  rest 
luitil  I  had  worked  it  out  in  detail.  This  was  done  during  the  same 
short  sunnner  excursion,  in  disobedience  to  my  physician's  orders 
not  to  busy  myself  with  such  things." 

The  subject  of  Lohengrin,  being  more  in  harmony  with 
his  mood,  occupied  him  first,  and  it  is  one  of  the  greatest 
marvels  in  the  history  of  art  that  the  music  of  this  opera, 
so  rich,  so  melodious,  so  novel  in  every  way,  was  com- 
posed in  less  than  a  year.  In  the  first  sketch  of  the 
score  Wagner  has  written  the  exact  dates  with  his  own 
hand.  The  third  act  was  written  first,  between  Sept. 
9,  1846,  and  March  5,  1847.  Then  came  the  first  act, 
May  12  to  June  8 ;  and,  last  of  all,  the  second  act,  June 
18  to  Aug.  2,  1847.  The  instrumentation  was  completed 
the  following  winter  and  spring. 

WHY   WAGNER   BECAME   A   REBEL 

A  masterwork  had  been  created,  but  the  world  did  not 
want  it.  Although  Wagner  remained  royal  conductor  in 
Dresden  for  two  years  after  the  completion  of  Lohengrin, 
and  although  the  Opera  there  had  an  almost  ideal  cast 
for  it,  —  Schroeder-Devrient,  Johanna  Wagner,  Tich- 
atschek,  and  Mitterwurzer,  —  he  did  not  succeed  in*  get- 
ting it  accepted  for  performance.  Not  till  three  years 
later  did  it  have  its  first  performance  —  at  Weimar; 
while  the  Dresdeners  did  not  hear  it  till  1859  —  twelve 
years  after  its  creation ;  and  Wagner  himself  had  to  wait 
two  further  years  till  he  could  hear  Loliengrin  for  the 
first  time  —  at  Vienna. 


WHY   WAGNER   BECAME  A   REBEL  201 

Yet  he  knew  in  1847,  as  well  as  the  whole  world 
knows  to-day,  that  he  had  coniposed  an  immortal  music- 
drama.  Evidently  things  were  not  going  with  him 
as  they  should, —  there  was  something  rotten  in  Den- 
mark, and  time  was  out  of  joint.  True,  the  new  score 
appeared  very  difficult,  and  its  author  insisted  on  hav- 
ing for  it  increased  orchestral  forces;  but  had  he  not  a 
right,  after  the  evidence  he  had  given  of  his  genius  in 
Tannhciuser,  to  ask  for  special  consideration?  Nor  was 
the  neglect  of  Lohengrin  by  any  means  the  only  cause 
of  dissatisfaction.  Once  more,  after  a  short  period  of 
prosperity,  everything  and  everybody  seemed  to  turn 
against  him.  Although  Tannldiuser  had  been  revived  the 
year  after  its  first  production,  with  increased  success,  all 
efforts  to  get  it  accepted  in  other  cities  failed,  and  for 
four  years  Tannldiuser  remained  unknown  outside  Dres- 
den, till  Liszt  brought  it  out  at  Weimar.  From  Berlin 
the  score  had  been  returned  with  the  verdict  that  the 
opera  was  "too  epic,"  and  when  Wagner,  relying  on  the 
King's  love  of  music,  tried  to  make  a  more  direct  appeal 
to  him,  the  authorities  advised  him  to  make  his  music 
known  to  his  Majesty  by  arranging  portions  of  it  for 
the  military  band.  "More  deeply  I  surely  could  not 
have  been  humiliated  and  forced  to  appreciate  my  real 
position." 

The  Flying  Dutchman,  too,  after  a  brief  career  in  Dres- 
den, Cassel,  Kiga,  and  Berlin,  liad  disappeared  entirely, 
and  for  nine  years  was  not  again  sung.  Even  the  sensa- 
tional Rienzi  failed  at  Berlin  and  at  Hamburg.^     Wagner 

^  At  Ilanibur}^  this  opera  had  only  been  accepted  at  the  urgent  solic- 
itation of  tenor  Tichatscliek,  who  stipulated  that  the  manager  should 
give  him  an  opportunity  to  sing  six  times  in  Rienzi,  or  forfeit  200<t 


202      REVOLUTION  —  AttTtSTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

sent  out  all  his  scores  to  various  managers :  some  returned 
them  with  a  note  saying  they  were  too  dilficult,  while 
others  returned  them  without  even  opening  the  packages 
(IV.  344).  To  him  this  was  a  most  serious  disappoint- 
ment, for  more  than  one  reason :  not  only  was  his  artistic 
ambition  ungratified,  but  he  found  himself  involved  in 
grave  financial  trouble.  An  author,  in  the  first  and 
most  impetuous  years  of  his  career,  is  naturally  sanguine 
as  to  the  brilliant  future  of  his  works,  and  Wagner's 
confidence  in  his  own  future  had  been  strengthened  by 
the  success  of  Rienzi.  This  led  him  into  the  rash  ven- 
ture of  publishing  his  operatic  scores,  partly  on  his  own 
responsibility;  and  when  the  operas  failed  to  "make  the 
round  "  of  the  theatres,  this  venture  naturally  proved  a 
financial  failure.  How  far  his  confidence  in  his  works 
went,  may  be  inferred  from  this  passage  in  one  of  Moritz 
Hauptmann's  letters  (1847) :  "  Wagner  has  had  the  scores 
of  his  operas,  in  his  own  handwriting,  engraved  at  once 
on  stone,  and  thus  published  in  a  lithographic  edition ; 
Tannhiiuser  even  before  the  first  rehearsal." 

The  fifth  letter  in  the  correspondence  with  Liszt  throws 
such  an  interesting  light  on  Wagner's  situation  that  it 
must  be  cited  entire :  — 

"You  informed  me  lately  that  you  had  closed  your  piano  for 
some  time  to  come  :  so  I  presume  that  you  have  become  a  banker. 
My  aifairs  are  in  a  bad  way,  and  the  thought  has  flashed  on  me 
that  you  might  perhaps  help  me.  —  The  publication  of  my  three 
operas  was  undertaken  on  my  own  responsibility  :  the  capital  I 
borrowed  of  several  parties  ;  now  I  have  received  notice  on  all 
sides,  and  I  cannot  subsist  another  week,  for  every  attempt  to  sell 

thalers.  The  Si(/7iale,  which  prints  this  item,  adds  maliciously  that 
"  Manager  Cornet,  having  now  heard  the  opera,  is  said  to  be  in  a  state 
of  consternatiou  over  this  agreement  "  (Tappert,  p.  22). 


WHY   WAGNER  BECAME  A  REBEL  203 

this  peculiar  business,  even  for  cost  price,  has  in  the  present  hard 
times  resulted  in  failure.  Various  complications  have  made  the 
matter  very  dangerous  to  me,  and  I  ask  myself  secretly  what  is  to 
become  of  me.  The  sum  at  stake  is  5000  thalers  [almost  $4000]  : 
after  deducting  returns,  and  waiving  all  profit,  this  is  the  sum 
invested  in  the  publication  of  my  operas.  —  Can  you  provide  the 
money  ?  Have  you  got  it,  or  do  you  know  any  one  who  would 
advance  it  for  your  sake?  Would  it  not  be  interesting  if  you 
became  the  publisher  of  my  works  ?  Friend  Meser  would  con- 
tinue the  business  on  your  account  as  honestly  as  on  mine  :  a  law- 
yer would  arrange  matters.  And  do  you  know  what  would  be  the 
result  ?  I  would  again  be  a  man,  —  a  man  whose  existence  has 
been  rendered  possible,  — an  artist  who  never  again  in  all  his  life 
will  have  anything  to  do  with  money  affairs,  but  only  work  on  joy- 
fully. Dear  Liszt,  with  this  money  you  ransom  me  from  slavery  ! 
Do  I  seem  worth  that  sum  as  a  serf '?  " 

The  "  Friend  Meser  "  alluded  to  in  this  letter  was  of 
course  the  publisher  of  the  three  scores ;  and  about  him 
the  local  wits  had  their  little  joke.  Before  issuing 
Rienzi,  they  said,  he  lived  in  the  first  story;  the  Dutch- 
vian  and  Tannhauser  took  him  up  to  the  second  and 
third,  and  Lohengrin  would  drive  him  up  to  the  garret. 
But  Meser  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  fourth 
score,  and  thus  escaped  the  garret;  while  Wagner  was 
more  than  ever  convinced  that  time  was  out  of  joint. 
His  duties  as  conductor  were  irksome  because  the  reper- 
tory consisted  chiefly  of  the  works  of  Donizetti,  Flotow, 
and  others  of  tliat  kind.  Creative  work  alone  gave  him 
true  satisfaction  and  pleasure,  and  so,  after  the  comple- 
tion of  Lohengrin,  we  find  him  again  in  the  midst  of 
operatic  projects.  One  of  these  was  the  plan  of  a  music- 
drama  on  the  subject  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which,  how- 
ever, iie  soon  gave  up ~ as  impracticable;  doubtless  not 
without  a  pang  of  regret,  as  the  material  wliich  he  col- 


204      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

lected  for  this  drama  was  so  extensive  tliat  it  forms  a 
volume  of  one  hundred  pages  which  has  been  issued 
separately.^  It  is  of  interest  as  containing  some  of  the 
germs  of  Parsifal;  and  in  Vol.  IV.  (402-405)  Wagner 
discourses  on  his  intentions,  and  on  the  mood  in  which 
he  conceived  this  plan,  which  was  a  thoroughly  pessimis- 
tic one. 

Another  dramatic  project  of  this  period  which  he  never 
completed  was  based  on  the  story  of  "Friedrich  Roth- 
bart."  He  soon  realized  that  it  could  be  used  only  as  a 
literary  drama,  and  on  this  occasion  he  became  more 
convinced  than  ever  that  the  only  proper  subject  for  a 
music-drama  was  a  mythical  one.  The  legend  of  Sieg- 
fried occupied  his  mind  more  and  more,  and  ended  by 
routing  the  historic  plan  —  the  last  time,  as  he  says,  that 
history  and  mythology  conflicted  in  his  mind.  The 
result  of  his  historic  studies  in  connection  with  Friedrich 
are  printed  in  Vol.  II.  (151-199),  under  the  title  "  Die 
Wibelungen.  Weltgeschichte  aus  der  Sage."  And  im- 
mediately after  this  essay  comes  the  "  Nibelung  Myth,  a 
Sketch  for  a  Drama"  —  which  foreshadows  the  whole 
story  of  the  Nihelung^s  Rwg,  and  is  followed  by  "  Sieg- 
fried's Death,"  a  complete  drama  which  he  afterwards 
remodelled  and  converted  into  Die  Gotterddmmerung, 
Concerning  this  drama,  he  says  (IV.  402) :  — 

"  My  poem,  '  Siegfried's  Death,'  I  had  sketched  and  versified 
solely  in  order  to  satisfy  an  inner  craving,  and  by  no  means  with 
the  idea  of  getting  it  performed  in  our  theatres  and  with  the  means 
at  hand  in  them,  which  I  had  to  pronounce  inadequate  in  every 
sense.  ...    At  that  time,  in  1848, 1  did  not  think  of  the  possibility 

1  Jes%is  von  Nazareth,  von  R.  Wagner.    Leipzig,  Breitkopf  &  Hartel, 

1887. 


REFORM  OR   REVOLUTION  ?  205 

of  its  performance,  but  looked  upon  its  execution  in  verse,  and  the 
addition  of  a  few  musical  fragments,  only  as  a  personal  gratifica- 
tion with  wliich  I  was  anxious  to  refresh  myself  in  this  period, 
when  I  loathed  public  affairs  and  lived  in  retirement  from  them," 

REFORM   OR   REVOLUTION? 

Reasons  enough  liave  now  been  given  to  show  why- 
Wagner  rebelled  against  the  existing  order  of  things; 
but  he  made  one  more  great  effort  before  throwing  him- 
self entirely  into  the  revolutionary  movement  which  had 
made  France  a  republic,  and  was  spreading  over  the 
Continent.  The  air  was  full  of  reform  projects ;  and  one 
of  these  projected  "reforms"  excited  Wagner's  alarm 
and  satisfaction  at  the  same  time.  He  heard  that  there 
was  a  movement  to  abolish  the  annual  subvention  granted 
to  the  Court  Theatre,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  merely 
"  a  place  of  luxurious  entertainment."  Now  this  view  of 
the  Dresden  Theatre  coincided  exactly  with  his  own, 
that  the  theatre,  in  Dresden  as  elsewdiere,  had  gradu- 
ally been  degraded  into  a  mere  commercial  speculation, 
the  function  of  which  w^as  to  supply  the  public  with 
amusement  and  opportunity  to  pass  away  time  —  as  a 
surrogate  for  cards  and  billiards.  But  should  the  theatre 
for  that  reason  be  given  up  as  lost,  and  eventually 
deprived  of  state  assistance  and  patronage?  That,  surely, 
would  be  as  unreasonable  as  it  would  have  been  for  the 
church  authorities,  two  centuries  before,  to  banish  all 
music  from  the  church  because  sacred  music  had  degen- 
erated; and,  just  as  Palestrina  had  saved  church  music 
l)y  slioAving  that  masses  could  be  composed  that  were 
dignified  and  interesting  at  the  same  time,  so  Wagner  — 
who,  of  course,  does  not  use  this  comparison  —  proposed 


206      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

a  plan  which  would  make  the  Opera  House  a  real  art- 
institute,  worthy  of  state  support,  and  keeping  up  to 
Emperor  Joseph's  maxim :  — 

"  The    theatre    should     have    no    other    object 

THAN  to  assist  IN  THE  REFINEMENT  OF  TASTE  AND 
MORALS." 

Wagner  himself  prints  this  in  large  type;  for  the 
theatre  was  his  hobby,  his  idol;  that  is,  the  ideal  thea- 
tre, not  the  actual  theatre  in  which  not  even  his  Lohen- 
grin could  be  performed.  Accordingly  he  set  to  work 
and  drew  up  an  elaborate  scheme  for  the  organization  of 
an  ideal  National  Theatre,  which  was  to  be  managed  on 
artistic  principles,  and  not  as  a  commercial  speculation 
dependent  on  the  whims  and  tastes  of  the  vulgar  crowd. 
This  scheme,  which  takes  up  no  less  than  fifty  pages  of 
fine  print  (Vol.  II.  pp.  309-359),  gives  an  excellent  in- 
sight into  the  practical  side  of  Wagner's  genius:  no 
detail  is  neglected,  from  the  function  of  manager  and 
conductor  down  to  the  humblest  fiddler  and  chorus- 
singer;  and  the  financial  side  also  is  carefully  taken  into 
consideration.  Some  of  his  suggestions  (for  each  of 
which  convincing  reasons  are  given)  are  that  the  weekly 
performances  should  be  limited  to  a  number  consistent 
with  ohe  possibility  of  proper  rehearsals;  that  entr'acte 
music  should  be  abolished;  that  the  managers  should  be 
specialists  no  less  than  the  conductors  and  singers;  that 
newspaper  critics  should  be  abolished  (fact!  see  p.  315); 
travelling  companies  suppressed;  dramatic  and  musical 
schools  established  for  fresh  supplies  of  artists;  the 
Leipzig  conservatory  transferred  to  Dresden  (this  idea 
made  Wagner  many  enemies  in  Leipzig);  the  opera 
orchestra  relieved  of  service  in  church,  where  pure  vocal 


REFORM  OR   REVOLUTION  ?  207 

music  d,  la  Palestrina  was  to  be  restored,  and  women 
admitted  as  singers;  the  whole  organization  to  be  placed 
under  the  authority  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Worship; 
and  so  on. 

In  the  preface  to  this  scheme  (written  many  years 
later)  Wagner  remarks  that  the  reader  of  his  literary 
works  will  find  him  for  a  number  of  years  constantly 
resuming  this  idea  of  elevating  the  theatre  to  the  dignity 
of  an  art-institute :  "  he  will  perhaps  be  surprised  at  the 
persistence  with  which  I  endeavored  in  each  case  to 
adapt  the  plan  to  local  circumstances.^  That  it  never 
received  any  attention  will  perhaps  also  surprise  him." 
In  1849  it  certainly  received  no  attention,  and  when 
he  got  back  the  manuscript,  he  even  found  derisive 
marginal  notes  on  it  —  the  only  reward  for  all  his 
thought  and  labor!  Reform  was  obviously  impossible; 
what  Avas  there  left  but  revolution?  So  he  became  a 
revolutionist  and  a  member  of  secret  societies. 

In  one  of  these  societies,  the  Vaterlandsverein,  Wagner 
delivered,  on  June  14,  1848,  a  fiery  address  which  was 
printed  as  a  newspaper  extra  ^  and  contains  some  remark- 
ably bold  statements.  In  it  Wagner  demanded,  besides 
general  suffrage,  nothing  less  than  the  complete  abolish- 
ment of  the  aristocracy  as  well  as  of  the  standing  army, 
and  the  proclamation  of  Saxony  as  a  republic  by  the  King 
liimself,  wlio  was  to  remain  its  president!  This  speech 
was  printed  anonymously,  but  everybody  knew  who  was 
its  author,  and,  strange  to  say,  he  did  not  get  into  trouble 
on  account  of  it.     "  A  two  weeks'  leave  of  absence,  which 

'He  alludes  to  the  essays  on  "A  Theatre  in  Zurich"  and  "The 
Vienna  Opera  House,"  in  Vols.  V.  and  VII. 

2  Reprinted  by  Tappert,  33-42.    English  in  Praeger,  157-164. 


208      REVOLUTION — ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

Wagner  requested,  a  few  interviews  and  letters, —  and 
the  matter  was  dropped,"  says  Tappert, 

But  the  red  republican  flame  continued  to  burn  in 
Wagner's  mind,  and  when,  a  year  later  (May,  1849),  the 
insurrection  broke  out  in  Dresden,  he  joined  hands  with 
the  rioters.  The  streets  were  barricaded  by  the  rebels, 
the  royal  troops  repulsed,  and  the  King  himself  hastily 
left  the  city.  The  triumph,  however,  was  brief,  for  on 
the  following  day  Prussian  troops  arrived  to  succor  the 
King  of  Saxony,  and  Wagner,  with  his  friends.  Semper 
and  Kinkel,  had  to  seek  safety  in  flight,  while  others  of 
the  revolutionaries,  including  his  friend  Koeckel  and  the 
Russian  Bakunin,  were  captured,  imprisoned,  and  con- 
demned to  be  shot. 

Apart  from  the  general  incidents  of  the  revolution, 
which  belong  to  military  history,  this  meagre  outline  of 
the  facts  is  about  all  that  the  biographers  of  Wagner 
(with  the  exception  of  Praeger)  have  been  able  to  tell 
their  readers  up  to  date.  The  testimony  of  witnesses  as 
to  details  did  not  agree.  Some  declared  that  Wagner 
had  been  seen  fighting  on  the  barricades,  in  such  and 
such  a  street;  others  spread  the  report  that  he  himself 
had  set  fire  to  the  old  opera-house,  which  was  consumed 
by  flames  during  the  insvirrection.  On  the  other  hand, 
one  of  the  insurgents,  Stephan  Born,  wrote  after  Wag- 
ner's death  that  the  composer  was  not  even  in  Dresden 
at  the  time  of  the  uprising,  but  at  Chemnitz ;  and  that 
on  his  return  to  that  city,  after  a  revolutionary  errand  to 
Freiberg,  he  and  his  companions  were  warned  not  to  stop 
at  the  hotel ;  that  the  two  companions  paid  no  heed  to 
this  warning,  and  were  arrested,  while  Wagner,  who  was 
staying  with  his  brother-in-law,   escaped.     Mr.   Dann- 


REFORM  OR   REVOLUTION?  209 

reuther,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  composer,  writes 
(Grove,  IV.  357)  that  "the  tale  of  his  having  carried  a 
red  flag  and  fought  on  the  barricades,  is  not  corroborated 
by  the  'acts  of  accusation  '  preserved  in  the  Saxon  Police 
Records."  Another  biographer,  R.  Pohl,  whom  the 
"Meister"  himself  used  to  call  "the  oldest  Wagnerite," 
says  that  "  Richard  Wagner  did  not  stand  on  the  barri- 
cades, as  has  been  asserted,  but  he  had  undertaken  the 
'musical  direction  '  of  the  revolution;  he  led  the  signals, 
the  alarm  bells;  he  also  organized  the  convoys  coming 
in  from  outside,  and  by  his  words  encouraged  them  to 
fight"  (p.  42).  A  similar  account  was  given  by  Wag- 
ner's Avife  to  the  novelist  Frau  Eliza  Wille  (Deutsche 
Rundschau,  May,  1887,  p.  263):  "My  husband  did  not 
incur  any  guilt.  He  only  looked  out  from  the  tower  for 
the  convoys  from  the  villages,  which  were  to  come  to 
assist  the  citizens.  He  did  not  stand  on  the  barricades, 
as  was  related  of  him;  he  had  shouldered  no  musket,  had 
only  been  able  to  save  himself  by  flight  wlien  the  Prus- 
sian military  entered  Dresden." 

Wagner  himself  did  not  satisfactorily  elucidate  this 
episode  in  any  of  his  copious  writings,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  all  the  facts  will  be  authoritatively  known  until  his 
three-volume  autobiography  (which  his  widow  is  still 
guarding  as  jealously  as  Fafner  guarded  his  treasure)  is 
given  to  the  world.  In  the  letters  to  Liszt  tliere  are 
several  references  to  this  revolutionary  episode  in  his 
life,  but  as  Wagner's  object,  in  writing  about  tliem  to 
Liszt,  was  to  enlist  his  aid  in  securing  amnesty  and  per- 
mission to  return  to  Germany,  it  was  inevitable  that  he 
should  present  the  facts  as  an  advocate,  in  as  favorable  a 
light  as  possible,  and  not  as  an  impartial  witness.     As 


210      liEVOLUriON  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

letters  were  frequently  opened  at  that  time,  it  would 
have  been  rash  and  dangerous  for  him  to  write  to  Liszt 
the  details  of  occurrences  that  might  have  been  used 
as  evidence  against  him.  A  few  passages  from  the 
letters  to  Liszt  may,  however,  be  quoted,  as  presenting 
Wagner's  side  of  the  case.  On  April  13,  1856,  he 
wrote :  — 

"In  regard  to  that  riot  and  its  sequels,  I  am  willing  to  confess 
that  I  now  consider  myself  to  have  been  in  the  wrong  at  that  time, 
and  carried  away  by  my  passions,  although  I  am  conscious  of  not 
having  committed  any  crime  that  would  properly  come  before  the 
courts,  so  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  confess  to  any  such." 

It  worried  him  particularly  to  be  accused  of  ingratitude 
toward  the  King  of  Saxony,  who  had  given  him  a  posi- 
tion, and  had  always  been  kind  to  him.^  Thus  he  wrote 
to  Liszt  shortly  after  his  flight,  under  date  July  19, 
1849:  — 

"One  thing  annoys  me  very  much  and  pains  me  to  the  bone: 
the  frequent  reproach  of  ingratitude  toward  the  King.  .  .  .  That 
he  paid  me  1500  thalers  for  conducting  a  number  of  poor  operas 
for  him  every  year,  at  the  Intendant's  order,  was  indeed  too 
much :  yet  I  foimd  herein  less  cause  for  gratitude  than  for  dissat- 
isfaction with  my  whole  position.  That  for  the  best  I  could  do  he 
did  not  pay  me  anything,  is  a  circumstance  that  did  not  call  for 
gratitude :  that,  on  the  occasion  when  I  gave  him  a  real  opportu- 
nity to  help  me  radically,  he  did  not  —  or  could  not  —  help  me,  but 
calmly  discussed  with  his  Intendant  the  advisability  of  my  dis- 
missal—  is  a  matter  which  quieted  my  conscience  regarding  my 

1  For  example,  the  Berliner  Musikalische  Zeitung,  No.  31,  1844,  has 
this  item  :  "  Under  the  direction  of  Reissiger  &  Rich.  Wagner,  106  in- 
strumentalists and  200  vocalists  went  to  Pillnitz  to  serenade  the  King 
with  a  patriotic  song  composed  by  Wagner.  The  King  spoke  in  the 
most  appreciative  terms  of  the  excellent  piece."  Wagner  is  also  said 
to  have  been  under  special  obligations  to  the  King's  sister. 


EEFORM  OR   REVOLUTION f  211 

dependence  on  royal  favors.  Finally,  I  am  conscious  of  the  fact 
that,  even  if  I  had  had  special  grounds  for  gratitude  toward  the 
King  of  Saxony,  I  did  not,  to  my  knowledge,  commit  any  act  of 
ingratitude  toward  him  :  of  this  1  could  bring  the  proofs." 

Four  weeks  before  this  he  had  written  to  Liszt  to 
assure  him  that  his  undisguised  sympathy  with  the 
Dresden  revolt  was 

"  far  removed  from  that  ludicrous  fanaticism  which  sees  in  every 
royal  personage  an  object  to  be  persecuted.  .  .  .  You  know  the 
bitter  spring  of  dissatisfaction  which  came  to  me  from  my  practical 
connection  with  my  dear  art  —  a  spring  which,  growing  in  volume, 
finally  overflowed  into  that  sphere  (politics)  the  connection  of 
which  with  the  bottom  of  my  deep  displeasure  I  could  not  fail  to 
fathom.  Hence  arose  a  violent  impulse  which  is  expressed  in  the 
words,  '  There  must  be  a  change  ;  it  cannot  continue  like  this.'  " 

In  Vol.  IV.  (308)  of  his  Collected  Writings  he  brings 
out  still  more  clearly  what  precipitated  him  into  the 
revolution :  — 

"From  my  artistic  point  of  view,  especially  with  reference  to  a 
reorganization  of  the  Theatre,  I  had  thus  got  to  the  point  of  recog- 
nizing the  unavoidable  necessity  of  the  revolution  of  1848."  And 
in  a  footnote  he  adds  defiantly  :  "I  give  especial  prominence  to 
this  fact  here,  regardless  of  the  impression  it  may  make  on  those 
who  poke  fun  at  me  as  'a  revolutionist  in  behalf  of  the  theatre.'  " 

No  doubt  there  is  something  funny  in  the  idea  of  join- 
ing in  a  political  revolution  for  the  sake  of  theatrical 
reform.  Wagner  was  a  fanatic  for  tlie  theatre,  if  you 
choose.  If  there  were  more  such  fanatics,  there  would  be 
more  immortal  dramas  and  music-dramas. 

How  little  Wagner  cared  for  politics  as  such,  and 
tlierefore  for  the  political  side  of  the  revolution,  may 
also  be  inferred  from  this  line  in  the  tenth  letter  to 
Fischer :  — 


212      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

"  In  my  book,  Oper  iind  Drama,  which  will  appear  shortly,  you 
will  read,  to  your  comfort,  that  I  do  not  consider  true  art  possible 
until  politics  cease  to  exist  f^ 

The  view  here  presented,  that  Wagner  was  not  natu- 
rally a  politician,  and  that  he  was  driven  into  the  revolu- 
tion, not  by  hatred  of  his  king,  but  by  purely  artistic 
considerations,  and  by  despair  at  the  sorry  state  of  his 
personal  prospects,  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  interesting 
and  important  revelations  made  by  the  late  Ferdinand 
Praeger  in  his  Wagner  as  I  Knew  Him  (1892),  which 
help  to  explain  why  Wagner  temporarily  abandoned 
music  for  politics.  What  the  insurgents  were  fighting 
for  were  freedom  of  the  press,  trial  by  jury,  national 
armies,  and  political  representatives.  These  boons  must 
have  appeared  as  desirable  to  Wagner  as  to  any  other 
high-spirited  and  freedom-loving  man;  yet  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  if  he  could  have  had  his  own  way  in  regard 
to  operatic  reforyns,  he  would  have  left  political  revolu- 
tions to  the  care  of  others.  Praeger's  testimony  on  this 
point  bears  out  this  view:  "Wagner's  heart,"  he  says, 
"  as  that  of  all  men,  revolted  at  the  cause,  but  had  it  not 
been  for  the  '  companion  of  my  solitude,'  as  Wagner  calls 
Roeckel,  he  would  never  have  taken  so  active  a  part  in  the 
struggle  for  liberty.  Upon  this  point  I  cannot  lay  too 
much  stress." 

Who  was  this  Eoeckel?  He  was  assistant-conductor  at 
the  Dresden  Opera.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Hummel,  the 
famous  composer  and  pianist,  and  his  father  was  the  im- 
presario who  first  introduced  a  complete  German  opera 
troupe  to  London ;  and  who,  at  one  time,  was  tutored  by 
Beethoven  for  the  part  of  Florestan  in  Fidelia.  August 
Roeckel  inherited  a  good  share  of  the  family  talent  for 


REFORM  OR   REVOLUTION?  213 

music.  It  was  the  display  of  this  talent  in  his  opera 
Farinelli  that  led  to  his  appointment  as  assistant-director 
at  the  Dresden  Opera.  But  when  he  became  familiar 
with  Wagner's  operatic  music,  the  conviction  of  his  own 
inferiority  became  so  strong  in  him  that  he  voluntarily 
took  back  that  opera  and  refused  to  allow  its  perform- 
ance. Henceforth  he  became  Wagner's  "shadow,"  as 
Praeger  calls  him,  his  constant  companion  at  home  and 
in  the  theatre.  When  Wagner  —  disgusted  at  the  fate 
of  TannJiduser  and  the  Dutchman ;  overwhelmed  with 
debts  by  their  failure  to  make  their  way  in  other  cities, 
and  the  accumulation  of  the  scores  he  had  had  printed  at 
his  own  expense;  harassed  by  ignorant  critics,  pedants 
and  Philistines  on  all  sides  —  withdrew  from  the  world 
to  compose  his  Lohengrin,  Eoeckel  was  his  only  intimate, 
and  he  was,  with  Uhlig,  the  first  mortal  who  saw  its 
immortal  pages. 

Eoeckel,  fortunately,  had  another  intimate  friend  of 
his  youth,  Ferdinand  Praeger,  who  at  that  time  lived  in 
London.  Eoeckel  was  a  good  correspondent,  and  to  this 
circumstance  we  owe  some  pleasant  glimpses  of  Wagner 
as  he  was  at  Dresden  during  the  Tannhiiuser  and  Lohen- 
grin epoch. 

From  these  letters  a  few  passages  may  here  be  quoted. 
The  first  is  dated  March,  1843. 

"  Henceforth  I  drop  myself  into  a  well,  because  I  am  going  to 
speak  of  the  man  whose  greatness  overshadows  that  of  all  other 
men  I  have  met,  either  in  France  or  England,  —  our  new  friend, 
Richard  Wagner.  I  say  advisedly,  our  friend,  for  he  knows  you 
from  my  description  as  well  as  I  do.  You  cannot  imagine  how  the 
daily  intercourse  with  him  develojjs  my  admiration  for  liis  genius. 
His  earnestness  in  art  is  religiou.s;  he  looks  upon  the  drama  as  the 


214      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

pulpit  from  which  the  people  should  be  taught,  and  his  views  on 
the  combination  of  the  different  arts  for  that  purpose  open  up  an 
exciting  theory  as  new  as  it  is  ideal.  You  would  love  him,  aye, 
worship  him  as  I  do,  for  to  gigantic  powers  of  intellect  he  unites  the 
sportive  playfulness  of  a  child.  I  have  a  great  advantage  over  him 
in  piano-playing.  It  seems  strange,  but  his  playing  is  ludicrously 
defective ;  so  much  so,  that  when  anything  is  to  be  tried  I  take  the 
piano,  and  my  sight-reading  seems  to  please  him  vastly. ' ' 

In  another  letter  he  writes  that  he  has  refused  an  offer 
to  go  as  first  conductor  to  Bamberg,  because  he  prefers 
to  be  second  conductor  under  Richard  Wagner. 


*'o' 


"Such  a  man  as  Eichard  Wagner  I  never  yet  met,  and  you 
know  I  am  not  inclined  to  Caesar's  maxim,  that  it  were  better  to 
be  the  first  in  a  village  than  the  second  in  Rome.  I  have  begun  to 
rescore  my  opera  under  Wagner's  supervision  ;  his  frank  criticism 
has  opened  my  eyes  to  some  very  important  instrumental  defects. 
His  notions  of  scoring  are  most  novel,  most  daring,  and  altogether 
marvellous,  but  not  more  so  than  his  elevated  notions  about  the 
high  purpose  of  the  dramatic  art ;  indeed,  they  foreshadow  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  art. ' ' 

In  several  other  interesting  letters,  Roeckel  speaks  of 
the  Berliners  who  posed  as  profound  art  critics  but  were 
too  stupid  to  see  any  merit  in  the  Flying  Dutchman ;  of 
Wagner's  admirable  conducting  of  works  by  Gluck  and 
Marschner  and  by  Mendelssohn;  of  the  hubbub  that  was 
raised  by  the  conservatives  when  Wagner,  for  the  best 
of  reasons,  Avished  to  rearrange  the  seating  of  the  orches- 
tra; of  Spontiui's  visit,  and  the  transfer  of  Weber's  ashes ; 
of  the  Intendant's  preference  of  the  third-rate  Keissiger 
to  Wagner,  because  Reissiger  knew  how  to  bow  to  his 
aristocratic  acumen,  while  Wagner  preached  his  own  gos- 
pel.    One  more  passage  may  be  quoted :  — 


BEFORM  OR  REVOLUTION?  2l5 

"  The  only  ready  ear  beside  myself  is  Semper,  who,  however, 
agrees  with  Wagner's  outbursts  only  so  far  as  they  are  applicable 
to  his  own  art,  architecture,  as  in  music  he  is  but  a  dilettante. 
Much  of  Wagner's  earnestness  in  his  demands  for  improvement  in 
art  matters  is  attributed  by  the  opposition  to  self-glorification. 
At  the  head  of  it  stands  Reissiger,  who  cannot  and  will  not  accept 
the  success  of  Riensi  as  bona  fide.  He  is  forever  hinting  at  some 
nefarious  means,  and  cannot  understand  why  his  own  operas  should 
fail  with  the  same  public,  miless,  indeed,  he  stupidly  adds,  it  is  be- 
cause he  neglected  to  surround  himself  with  a  '  lifeguard  of  clac- 
queurs '  ;  but  he  was  a  true  German,  and  against  such  malpractices. 
You  can  imagine  how  such  things  annoy  Wagner;  and  although 
he  eventually  laughs,  it  is  not  until  they  have  left  a  scar  somewhere. 
For  myself,  I  wonder  how  he  can  mind  such  stuff.  I  keep  it  always 
from  him,  but  nevertheless  it  always  seems  to  reach  him;  and 
Minna  is  not  capable  of  withholding  either  praise  or  blame  from 
him,  although  I  have  tried  hard  to  prove  to  her  that  it  deeply 
affects  her  husband,  whose  health  is  none  of  the  strongest.  Another 
annoyance  is  the  Leipzig  clique,  with  Mendelssohn  at  the  head,  or, 
to  put  the  matter  into  the  right  light,  as  the  ruling  spirit.  He  gives 
the  watchword  to  the  clique,  and  then  sneaks  out  of  sight,  as  if  he 
lived  in  regions  too  refined  and  sublime  to  bother  himself  about 
terrestrial  affairs." 

These  letters  of  Eoeckel's  might  give  the  impression 
that  he  had  effaced  himself  completely  to  become  Wag- 
ner's "shadow."  But  this  is  only  true  of  Roeckel  the 
musician.  In  politics  Roeckel  was  the  leading  spirit,  and 
Wagner  —  unfortunately  for  his  future  —  the  shadow. 
Now  a  man  of  Wagner's  strong  individuality  would  not 
have  been  likely  to  play  the  role  of  shadow  to  any  one 
but  a  hero :  and  that  Roeckel  had  in  him  the  material  of 
which  heroes  are  made  is  shown  by  what  Count  von  Beust 
relates  of  him  in  his  Memoirs.^    Tlie  Count  was  desirous 

1  Aus  drei  Viertel  Jahrhunderten,  Vol.  I.  Chap.  VII.  pp.  77-80. 


216      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

of  pardoning   Roeckel   after   he   had   been  confined  in 
prison  almost  thirteen  years ;  but,  he  says :  — 

"King  Johann  firmly  insisted  that  a  pardon  should  be  granted 
to  those  only  who  had  petitioned  for  it.  Roeckel,  whose  death- 
sentence  had  been  commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life,  was  the 
only  one  who  refused  to  submit  to  this  condition,  and  his  resistance 
at  last  became  a  real  source  of  perplexity.  One  day  I  succeeded  in 
obtaining  from  the  King  his  pardon  without  the  petition.  It  cannot 
be  denied,  I  took  the  liberty  of  saying,  that  there  is  an  antique 
trait  in  this  persistence,  and  where,  I  added,  is  the  reactionary  who 
would  remain  in  prison  twelve  years  without  being  willing  at  last 
to  speak  a  humble  word  ?    The  King  had  to  laugh,  and  yielded." 

Von  Beust  adds  that  Roeckel  requited  this  service 
with  ingratitude  by  writing  a  brochure  on  the  Waldheini 
prison,^  in  which  the  Count  is  represented  as  a  tyrant. 
The  Count  also  relates  how  he  one  day  visited  Roeckel 
in  prison.  He  found  him  standing  at  a  desk  and  writ- 
ing:— 

"When  he  noticed  me  he  made  a  stiff,  ceremonious  bow,  and 
then  continued  to  write,  with  his  back  toward  me,  and  without 
paying  me  any  attention.  There  was  nothing  to  prevent  him  from 
using  the  occasion  of  my  presence  for  bringing  forward  his  com- 
plaints. But  the  same  Spartan  trait  which  prevented  him  from 
handing  in  a  petition  for  pardon  may  have  incited  frequent  acts 
of  insubordination  on  his  part,  followed  by  corresponding  acts  of 
discipline." 

Such  was  the  character  of  the  "  Spartan  "  friend  who 
made  a  politician  pro  tempore  of  Richard  Wagner,  greatly 
to  the  latter 's  disadvantage.  He  was  the  editor  of  the 
Dresden  Volksblatt,  the  people's  organ,  and  Wagner  con- 

J  Sachsen's  Erhehung  und  das  Waldheimer  Zuchthavs,  which  con- 
tains a  vivid  narrative  of  the  revolutionary  incidents  iu  which  Wagner 
took  part. 


REFORM  OR   REVOLUTION?  217 

tributed  to  its  columns,  a  fact  which  told  against  him 
when  Eoeckel's  house  was  searched  after  his  imprison- 
ment. And  now  the  question  remains,  on  what  precise 
grounds  was  Wagner  prosecuted  by  the  Saxon  govern- 
ment and  kept  in  exile  for  more  than  a  decade?  In  other 
words,  what  role  did  Wagner  play  in  the  insurrection? 
We  have  seen  why,  in  his  letters  to  Liszt,  he  seeks  to 
minimize  his  share  in  the  revolt.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
a  letter  (dated  March  15,  1851)  written  to  Eduard  Eoeckel 
(August's  brother)  in  England,  where  there  was  no  dan- 
ger of  correspondence  being  opened  by  the  police,  he 
speaks  more  freely  of  his  share  in  those  transactions :  — 

"Although  I  had  not  accepted  a  special  role,  yet  I  was  present 
everywhere,  actively  superintending  the  bringing  in  of  convoys,  and, 
indeed,  I  only  returned  with  one  from  the  Erzgebirge  to  the  town- 
hall,  Dresden,  on  the  eve  of  the  last  day.  Then  I  was  immediately 
asked  on  all  sides  afte.  August,  of  whom  since  Monday  evening  no 
tidings  had  been  received,  and  so,  to  our  distress,  we  were  forced 
to  conclude  that  he  had  either  been  taken  prisoner  or  shot. 

"I  was  actively  engaged  in  the  revolutionary  movement  up  to 
its  final  struggle,  and  it  was  a  pure  accident  that  I,  too,  was  not 
taken  prisoner  in  company  with  Heubner  and  Bakunin,  as  I  had 
but  taken  leave  of  them  for  the  night  to  meet  in  consultation  again 
the  next  morning  "  (Praeger,  188-191). 

If  Wagner,  by  his  own  admission,  was  "actively  en- 
gaged in  the  revolutionary  movement  up  to  its  final 
struggle, "  it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  make  much  difference 
wliether  he  shouldered  a  musket,  as  Max  Maria  von 
Weber  (the  great  composer's  son)  told  Praeger  he  had 
seen  him  doing,  or  whether  he  only  fired  rockets,  rang 
alarm  bells,  and  made  speeches.  If  his  actions  were  rash 
and  foolish,  his  motives  were  at  any  rate  noble:  he 
fought  for  a  higher  degree  of  political  freedom,  and  for 


218      REVOLUTION — ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

a  higher  art-life.  If  all  the  men  who  have  taken  part 
in  revolts  on  such  grounds  are  to  be  condemned,  Wagner 
will  find  himself  in  a  multitudinous  crowd  of  heroes.  At 
the  same  time,  it  is  as  well  to  have  the  facts  straight. 
Praeger's  book  contains  several  stories  of  Wagner's  par- 
ticipation in  the  revolt  which  Mr.  Ashton  Ellis  has 
shown,  in  a  vigorous  pamphlet,^  to  be  unreliable,  Eichard 
Wagner  having  been  mixed  up  with  a  journeyman-baker 
named  Wagner,  on  which  point  documentary  evidence  is 
given  by  Mr.  Ellis. 

On  one  feature  of  his  affair  Mr.  Ellis  has  thrown  a 
flood  of  light  which  will  interest  politicians  as  well  as 
musicians.  It  is  well  known  that  Count  von  Beust  in  his 
Memoirs  gave  an  account  of  an  interview  he  had  with 
Wagner,  in  which  he  states,  among  other  things,  that 
Wagner  had  been  condemned  to  death  in  contumaciam; 
that  is,  in  his  absence  from  court.  He  says  also  that 
it  was  through  the  intercession  of  the  family  of  the 
tenor  Tichatschek  that  he  was  induced  to  secure  the 
King's  pardon  for  Wagner.  Then  he  describes  the  inter- 
view:— 

' '  I  greeted  him  with  the  words,  '  I  am  glad  to  have  been  able 
to  be  of  service  to  you ;  but  I  certainly  hope  you  -will  not,  in  con- 
sequence, do  anything  disagreeable  to  me,  therefore  I  beg  you :  no 
demonstrations.'  —  'I  do  not  understand  you,'  was  his  answer. 
'  Well,'  I  continued,  '  you  surely  remember  the  events  of  1849  ? '  — 
' Oh,  that  was  an  unfortunate  misunderstanding ! '  —  'A  misunder- 
standing ?  Perhaps  you  do  not  know  that  there  is  in  the  archives 
a  sheet  in  your  handwriting  in  which  you  boast  of  having  set  fire, 
fortunately  without  serious  consequences,  to  the  Prince's  palace.'  " 

11849.  A  Vindication.  London:  Kegan  Paul,  Trench,  Triibuer  & 
Co.,  1892.  Mr.  Ellis  is  the  editor  of  the  London  Meister  and  the  trans- 
lator of  Wagner's  Prose  Writings. 


EEFOBM  OR   REVOLUTION?  219 

Count  von  Beust  evidently  fancied  that  sucli  a  sublime 
being  as  a  statesman  need  not  behave  like  a  gentleman 
in  speaking  to  a  mere  man  of  genius.  But  leaving  the 
question  of  manners  aside,  it  is  certainly  suspicious  that, 
as  Mr.  Ellis  remarks,  "the  report  of  the  interview  is 
absolutely  broken  off  icithout  a  loord  of  Wagner'' s  reply!" 
Kegarding  the  statement  that  Wagner  had  been  con- 
demned to  death  in  contumaciam,  Mr.  Ellis  remarks :  — 

"However  much  von  Beust  might  have  approved  of  this  sum- 
mary method  of  dealing  with  distasteful  absentees,  even  the  Saxon 
authorities  did  not  dare  go  so  far,  at  least  in  the  middle  of  this 
century,  as  to  condemn  a  man  to  death  unheard.  .  .  .  And  now 
I  would  ask  my  readers  to  refer  back  to  page  10,  where  they  will 
see  a  reference  to  a  jonrneyman-baker,  Wagner;  this  young  man 
teas  condemned  to  death  for  various  acts  of  sedition,  and  is  accused 
by  Montbe  of  incendiarism  (p.  209,  Der  Mai  Aufstand).  Surely, 
here  is  the  key  to  the  whole  incident !  " 

It  is  now  known,  moreover,  that  it  Avas  the  Grand  Duke 
of  Baden,  and  not  the  family  of  Tiehatschek  and  Von 
Beust,  who  was  responsible  for  Wagner's  pardon.  Von 
Beust  disliked  Wagner's  music,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  he,  and  not  the  King,  was  responsible  for  his 
long  banishment;  his  attempt  to  make  out  that  he  was 
the  real  benefactor  and  liberator  of  the'  man  he  detested 
and  persecuted,  is  what  he  probably  considered  "  diplo- 
matic " ;  others  would  choose  a  different  word  for  such 
conduct.  But  we  must  now  return  to  our  narrative,  the 
thread  of  which  was  dropped  at  the  point  when  Wagner 
found  that  he  must  immediately  leave  Saxony  if  he  would 
save  his  life  or  his  liberty. 


220      BEVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 


FLIGHT   TO   WEIMAR 

Disguised  as  a  coachman  on  a  wagon  brought  to  him 
by   his    sister-in-law,    Wagner   fled  from  Saxony.     But 
where  should  he  find  an  asylum?     His  mind  was  doubt- 
less made  up  in  a  moment.    Where  else  should  he  go  but 
to  Weimar?     Here  Franz  Liszt,  surrounded  by  geniuses 
and  would-be  geniuses,  had  made  his  home,  which  was 
destined  to  transform  that  city  once  more  into  the  haunt 
of  the  Muses,   as  it  had  been  when  Goethe,   Schiller, 
Herder,  and  other  literary  lions  dwelt  there.     Liszt  had 
determined  to  give  up  his  career  as  pianist,  and  chosen 
the  much  less  remunerative  and  more  laborious  path  of 
conductor   and   orchestral  composer.     He  had  accepted 
the  post  of  conductor  of  the  Weimar  opera,  and  one  of 
his  first  acts  (four  months  after  his  installation)  was  the 
production  of  Tatmhduser,   which,   although  four  years 
had  passed  since  its  first  production  in  Dresden,  had  not 
been   brought  out  in  any  other  opera-house.     And  not 
only  had  Liszt  produced  it,  but  he  had  brought  it  out 
well,  with  an  honest  effort  to  follow  out  the  composer's 
intentions,  for  which  purpose  the  stage-manager  Genast 
had  been   specially  sent   to   Dresden  to  get  Wagner's 
instructions  regarding  the  scenery  and   other   matters. 
Numbers  10  to  16  of  the  Correspondence  with  Liszt  con- 
tain interesting  details  about  this  performance,  on  which 
we  cannot  dwell  here  further  than  to  quote  one  line  of 
Liszt's :  "  Herr  von  Zigesar  has  already  written  to  you 
with  what  zeal  and  constantly  growing  admiration  and 
sympathy  we  are  studying  your  work";    and  one  line 
from  Wagner's  effusive  and  pathetic  letter  of  thanks :  "  It 


FLIGHT   TO    WEIMAR  221 

comes  from  the  deptli  of  my  heart,  and  my  eyes  are  full 
of  tears  as  I  write." 

There  could  be  no  mistake,  therefore,  in  going  to 
Weimar,  where  Liszt  would  be  sure  to  welcome  him  with 
open  arms.  Liszt  had  urgently  invited  him  to  attend 
the  opening  performance,  but  Wagner  had  been  unable 
to  obtain  leave  of  absence :  — 

"In  the  same  week,"  he  writes,  "in  which  you  produced  my 
Tannhauser  in  Weimar,  I  was  so  grossly  insulted  by  our  Intendant 
that  I  struggled  with  myself  several  days  whether  I  should  continue, 
for  the  sake  of  the  bread  which  my  work  here  gives  me,  to  expose 
myself  to  the  most  insulting  treatment,  and  whether  I  should  not 
give  up  art  entirely,  and  earn  my  living  by  manual  labor,  rather 
than  continue  to  be  subjected  to  a  malicious  and  ignorant  des- 
potism." 

This  was  the  culmination  of  a  series  of  disappoint- 
ments and  annoyances  which  began  shortly  after  his 
arrival  in  Dresden  and  had  already,  in  1847,  reached  such 
a  point  that  he  wrote  to  his  friend  F.  Heine  the  follow- 
ing sentence,  which  deserves  to  be  printed  in  italics,  as 
it  contains  the  key  to  Wagner's  artistic  character  and,  in 
fact,  to  the  whole  "  Wagner  Question  "  :  — 

'■'■  I  am  so  filled  icith  the  deepest  contempt  for  our  contemporary 
theatric  affairs,  that,  as  I  feel  poicerless  to  effect  any  reform,  my 
most  ardent  desire  is  to  get  away  from  these  things  entirely  ;  and  I 
must  consider  it  a  real  curse  that  all  my  creative  impulses  urge  me 
to  the  production  of  dramatic  works,  since  the  icretched  state  of  our 
theatres  necessarily  appears  to  me  in  the  light  of  a  holloio  mockery 
of  all  my  efforts.'''' 

Under  such  circumstances  Wagner  could  hardly  con- 
sider the  necessity  of  his  flight  and  the  loss  of  his  situa- 
tion as  a  calamity,  and  we  can  understand  the  enthusiasm 
with  which,   in  reviewing  the  situation  two  years  later 


222     REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

(IV.  406),  he  exclaims  that  it  was  impossible  to  describe 
the  sense  of  voluptuous  delight  which  he  felt  at  getting 
away  from  all  these  petty  annoyances  and  blasted  hopes : 
"  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  absolutely  free  and 
happy,  though  I  could  not  know  where  I  should  hide 
myself  the  next  day  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  breathe 
heaven's  fresh  air." 

Liszt  was  no  less  delighted  than  surprised  at  this  unex- 
pected arrival  of  a  man  whom  he  had  recognized  through 
the  score  of  Tannliduser  as  one  of  the  greatest  living 
geniuses.  A  few  letters  had  passed  between  the  two, 
and  they  had  met  several  times,  but  it  was  not  till  this 
occasion  that  their  hearts  were  really  opened  towards 
each  other,  and  the  beginning  was  made  of  a  friendship 
unequalled  in  cordiality  and  importance  in  the  history  of 
art,  and  without  the  existence  of  which  the  world  would 
in  all  probability  have  never  seen  the  better  half  of  Wag- 
ner's music-dramas.  It  was  Liszt  who  helped  him  with 
funds  when  he  would  otherwise  have  been  compelled  to 
stop  composing  and  earn  his  bread  like  the  commonest 
day-laborer;  Liszt  who  sustained  him  with  his  approval 
when  all  the  critical  world  was  against  him ;  Liszt  who 
brought  out  his  operas  when  all  other  conductors  ignored 
them;  Liszt  who  wrote  letters — private  and  journalistic 
— -about  his  friend's  works  and  aims,  besides  three  long 
enthusiastic  essays  on  Tannliduser,  Lohengrin,  and  the 
Dutchman,  which  were  printed  in  German  and  French, 
and,  with  the  Weimar  performances  of  these  operas,  gave 
the  first  impulse  to  the  "Wagner  movement."  Nor  did 
it  take  Wagner  long  to  divine  his  luck. 

' '  On  the  day  when  I  discovered  that  I  would  have  to  fly  from 
Germany  altogether,"  he  writes,  "  I  saw  Liszt  conduct  a  rehearsal 


FLIGHT  TO    WEIMAR  223 

of  my  Tannhauser,  and  was  astonished  to  recognize  my  second  self 
in  this  achievement.  What  I  felt  in  composing  this  music  he  felt 
in  performing  it ;  what  I  intended  to  say  in  writing  it  down  he 
said  in  making  it  sound.  Wonderful !  Through  the  love  of  thi« 
rarest  of  friends  I  found,  at  the  moment  when  I  lost  my  home.,  a 
reaJ  home  for  my  art,  which  I  had  so  long  sought  in  vain  and 
always  at  the  wrong  place.  When  I  was  sent  away  to  wander 
about  the  world,  he,  who  had  so  long  been  a  wanderer,  retired  to 
a  small  town  to  create  a  home  for  me." 

The  historic  friendship  between  Liszt  and  Wagner  is 
the  more  remarkable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  at  first  there 
had  seemed  to  be  a  slight  antipathy  rather  than  sym- 
pathy between  them.  They  had  met  casually  for  the 
lirst  time  during  Wagner's  first  visit  to  Paris  —  he  being 
a  poor,  neglected  composer,  Liszt  a  popular  performer, 
who  astonished  all  society  with  his  brilliant  feats  of  vir- 
tuosity, fantasias  on  operatic  melodies,  and  the  like. 
This  prejudiced  Wagner  against  him,  and  on  his  return 
to  Germany  he  took  no  special  pains  to  conceal  his  feel- 
ings. Liszt,  the  most  cordial  and  genial  of  artists,  was 
distressed  on  discovering  that  his  slight  acquaintance 
wdth  Wagner  had  left  a  dissonant  impression;  and  even 
before  he  knew  any  of  Wagner's  music,  he  made  various 
efforts  to  meet  him  and  reveal  to  him  his  real  character, 
artistic  and  personal.  He  heard  Rienzi,  and  Wagner 
discovered  that  he  was  going  about  everywhere,  praising 
its  beauties.^  Then  came  the  final  test  —  the  perform- 
ance of  Tannhauser  at  Weimar;  and  now  Wagner  knew 
that  his  feelings  had  deceived  him.  Yet  this  was  only 
the  beginning  of  Liszt's  services. 

1  This  is  Wagner's  own  account  of  his  first  acquaintance  with  Liszt. 
IV.  41(M15. 


224     REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 


WANTED   BY   THE   POLICE 

While  Wagner  was  enjoying  the  rehearsal  of  Tann- 
hauser  by  Liszt,  news  was  brought  to  him  that  he  had 
better  continue  his  flight  immediately  beyond  the  German 
boundary,  as  the  Saxon  police  were  on  his  track.  There 
was  no  time  to  be  lost.  His  portrait  was  to  be  placed  in 
the  gallery  of  "  politically  dangerous  individuals  "  (poor 
Richard!),  and  the  following  warrant  was  issued  by  the 
Dresden  police :  — 

"  The  royal  Kapellmeister,  Richard  Wagner,  of  this  city,  de- 
scribed below,  is  to  be  placed  under  trial  for  active  participation 
in  the  riots  which  have  taken  place  here,  but  has  not  been  found 
so  far. 

"All  police  districts  are  accordingly  notified,  and  requested  to 
arrest  Wagner  on  sight  and  notify  us  immediately. 

"  Dresden,  May  16,  1849. 

"  The  City  Police  Deputation 
V.  Oppel. 

"  Wagner  is  thirty-seven  to  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  of  medium 
stature,  has  brown  hair,  an  open  forehead  ;  eyebrows,  brown  ; 
eyes,  grayish  blue  ;  nose  and  mouth,  proportioned ;  chin,  round, 
and  wears  spectacles  (sic  /) .  Special  characteristics :  rapid  in 
movements  and  speech.  Dress :  coat  of  dark  green  buckskin, 
trousers  of  black  cloth,  velvet  vest,  silk  neckerchief,  ordinary  felt 
hat  and  boots."  ^ 

It  may  seem  strange  that  the  police  did  not  succeed  in 
capturing  a  " politically  dangerous  person"  whose  "  round 
chin  wore  spectacles."  The  secret  is  revealed  by  the 
contents  of  a  letter  addressed  by  Wagner  to  Herr  0. 
L.  B.  Wolff,  which  forms  No.  17  in  the  Liszt  Correspon- 

1  Translated  from  the  original  in  Kastner's  Wagner  Kataloy,  Ap- 
pendix B,  8. 


WANTED  BY  THE  POLICE  226 

dence,  and  is  dated  Ziirich,  May  29,  1849.  From  tl)is 
we  gather  that  "Wagner  travelled  on  the  pass  of  a  Dr. 
Widmann,  whom  he  must  have  resembled  in  personal 
appearance  —  a  resemblance  which  he  doubtless  increased 
by  discontinuing  to  wear  his  spectacles  on  his  chin. 
In  the  letter  to  Eduard  Eoeckel  quoted  on  a  preceding 
page,  Wagner  tells  us  how  he  came  to  Weimar  and  left 
it  again:  "When  all  was  lost,  I  fled  first  to  Weimar, 
where,  after  a  few  days,  I  was  informed  that  a  warrant 
of  apprehension  was  to  be  put  in  motion  after  me.  I  con- 
sulted Liszt  about  my  next  movements.  He  took  me  to 
a  house  to  make  inquiries  on  my  behalf.  ...  On  Liszt 
returning,  he  told  me  that  not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost, 
the  warrant  of  apprehension  had  been  received,  and  I 
must  leave  Weimar  at  once."  He  made  straight  for 
Ziirich  and  arrived  there  after  four  days'  travel,  his  pass 
being  demanded  only  once,  at  Lindau.  At  Zurich  he 
remained  a  few  days  to  rest  and  to  secure  a  passport  for 
France.  He  begs  Herr  Wolff  to  give  the  kindest  greet- 
ings and  warmest  thanks  to  Liszt  and  the  others  who  had 
assisted  him  in  his  flight,  including  Herr  Wolff  himself, 
who  had  supplied  some  of  the  shekels  for  the  trip. 
Also,  to  tell  Liszt  that  the  trip  had  given  him  renewed 
pleasure  in  life  and  in  his  artistic  projects:  "I  know 
that  my  latest  experiences  have  taken  me  into  a  path  on 
which  I  must  produce  the  most  important  and  valuable 
work  of  which  I  am  capable."  Especially  interesting 
also  are  these  lines  about  Loliengrin :  — 

"Liszt  will  ere  long  receive  a  bundle  of  scores,  etc.,  from  my 
wife  ;  let  him  open  it!  The  score  of  Lohengrin  I  beg  him  to  ex- 
amine leisurely  ;  it  is  my  latest,  ripest  work  ;  no  artist  has  seen  it 
yet,  and  of  none  have  I  therefore  been  able  to  ascertain  what 


226      EEVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

impression  it  may  produce.  Now  I  am  anxious  to  hear  what  Liszt 
has  to  say  about  it.  When  he  is  through  with  it,  I  beg  him  to  send 
it  to  Paris  as  soon  as  possible  with  the  other  scores  and  text-books," 

IN  PARIS   AGAIN 

The  last  line  leads  to  the  inference  that  Wagner  in- 
tended to  get  some  of  his  operas  —  perhaps  even  Lohen- 
grin—  performed  in  Paris.  Vain  hope  —  as  we  can  see 
now:  Tannhdtiser  was  not  performed  there  till  twelve 
years  later,  and  Lohengrin  had  to  wait  at  the  door  of  the 
Grand  Opera  forty -two  years!  The  time  of  his  arrival 
was  not  a  favorable  one,  any  way,  for  serious  operatic 
projects.  Nor  was  his  heart  in  the  business :  his  former 
experiences  in  that  city  had  left  a  bitter  taste  in  his  mouth, 
and  it  was  only  at  Liszt's  advice  that  he  had  gone  there. 
Now,  by  a  curious  coincidence,  it  had  happened  that 
Liszt  —  who  at  that  time  could  have  had,  of  course,  no 
idea  that  Wagner  was  to  go  to  Paris  —  again  had  sent  to 
the  Journal  des  Debats  an  enthusiastic  article  on  Tannhdu- 
ser,  which  had  appeared  shortly  before  Wagner's  arrival. 
Suspicion  was  at  once  aroused  that  he  had  had  his  own 
finger  in  the  pie,  and  Meyerbeer,  especially,  was  disposed 
to  take  as  dark  a  view  as  possible  of  the  situation.  His 
conduct  on  this  occasion  appears,  indeed,  to  have  greatly 
exasperated  Wagner,  who  writes  to  Liszt  (No.  18)  that 
he  cannot  understand  how  there  can  be  any  friendship 
between  him  and  Meyerbeer  —  Liszt  all  magnanimity, 
Meyerbeer  all  cunning  and  shrewd  calculation  of  per- 
sonal advantage:  "Meyerbeer  is  petty,  through  and 
through,  and  I  regret  to  say  I  cannot  meet  any  one  who 
feels  the  least  inclination  to  deny  this." 

Liszt,  knowing  that  Wagner  was  not  a  good  hand  at 


IN  PARIS  AGAIN  227 

intrigues,  and  out  of  place  in  an  ante-cliamber,  had 
placed  at  his  disposal  his  own  agent,  Belloni,  a  shrewd 
and  clever  man  of  the  "vvoiid.  Belloni  frankly  told  him 
that  to  win  success  in  Paris  he  must  have  a  great  deal 
of  money,  like  Meyerbeer,  or  else  make  himself  feared. 

'•  N'ery  well,  money  I  have  none,"  Wagner  accordingly  writes 
lo  J.Lszt,  "  but  an  immense  desire  to  create  an  artistic  terrorisimis. 
I  Give  me  your  blessing,  or,  better  still,  your  assistance  !  Come 
hither  and  lead  the  great  hunt ;  let  us  shoot  till  the  rabbits  lie 
right  and  left."  To  Uhlig  (No.  5)  he  writes  in  a  similar  vein: 
"  My  business  is  to  create  a  revolution  wherever  I  go.  If  I  suc- 
cumb, my  defeat  will  be  more  honorable  to  me  than  success  in  the 
opposite  way ;  even  without  a  personal  triumph  I  shall  certainly 
benefit  the  cause." 

It  soon  became  clear  that  there  was  no  chance  to  pro- 
duce one  of  his  operas,  and  as  he  felt  a  great  aversion  to 
setting  to  mtisic  a  "Scribe  or  Dumas  libretto,"  there  was 
nothing  left  but  to  elaborate  a  new  operatic  plan  of  his 
own  and  get  some  French  poet  to  put  it  into  verse,  in 
pursuance  of  Liszt's  advice.  He  had,  besides  Siegfried, 
no  fewer  than  two  comic  and  three  tragic  subjects  in 
his  mind  (Uhlig,  No.  1).  One  of  these  was  Jesus  of 
Nazareth :  — 

"This  subject  I  intend  to  offer  to  the  French  poet,  whereby  I 
hope  to  get  rid  of  the  whole  affair,  for  it  will  be  fun  to  see  the  dis- 
may which  this  drama  will  create  in  my  associe;  if  he  has  the 
courage  to  undergo  with  me  all  the  thousand  fights  which  will 
necessarily  follow  the  attempt  to  put  such  a  subject  on  the  stage, 
I  shall  regard  it  as  a  matter  of  fate  to  go  ahead  ;  but  if  he  forsakes 
me,  80  much  the  better :  I  shall  be  freed  from  the  temptation  of 
working  in  this  hateful,  jabbering  language." 

He  succeeded  in  finding  a  French  author  who  was 
willing  to  collaborate  with  him,  but  none  of  his  subjects 


228      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

seemed  quite  suited  for  the  French  stage ;  and  as  it  would 
in  any  case  have  taken  him  about  a  year  and  a  half  to 
arrange  the  poetic  outlines  and  compose  the  music,  he 
determined  to  turn  his  back  on  the  hated  Paris,  —  dieses 
grdxdicJie  Paris,  —  which  weighed  on  him  like  a  night- 
mare, and  go  back  to  Zurich. 

MINNA   WAGNER   JOINS   HER   HUSBAND 

All  this  time  Wagner's  wife  had  been  left  in  Dresden, 
whence  she  reported  to  him  "a  thousand  disagreeable 
things  "  that  made  him  appear  a  much  more  active  party 
in  the  revolution  than  he  really  had  been.  On  his  return 
to  Zurich  his  first  thought  was  to  get  her  to  join  him  in 
exile ;  nor  was  she  unwilling :  — 

"  To-day  I  have  received  a  letter  from  my  wife,  as  touching  as 
anything  in  the  world  could  be.  She  is  willing  to  come  to  me, 
and  remain  to  share  anew  all  the  privations  that  are  before  us. 
A  return  to  Germany,  as  you  know,  I  cannot  for  some  time  think 
of  ;  hence  we  must  be  reunited  in  a  foreign  country." 

But  poor  Minna  had  no  money  to  travel:  she  even 
needed  sixty-two  thalers  to  help  out  her  parents,  who  had 
been  hitherto  supported  by  Wagner.  What  was  there  to 
do  but  to  ask  the  generous  Liszt  to  furnish  the  means? 
It  was  hard  to  do  so,  especially  as,  in  the  preceding 
letter,  Wagner  had  been  obliged  to  confess  that,  artist- 
like, he  had  used  up  part  of  the  money  that  Liszt  had 
given  him  to  take  along  on  his  flight,  by  assisting  some 
poor  Saxon  fugitives  he  had  met  in  Paris !  Liszt  was  far 
too  generous  and  reckless  himself  to  take  offence  at  this, 
and  opened  his  purse  again.  But  there  was  some  delay 
in  Minna's  coming,  and  Wagner  feared  she  might  have 


MINNA    WAGNER  JOINS  HER   HUSBAND      229 

changed   her   mind.     So   he  writes  to  Fischer   (No.  7, 
Aug.  10) :  — 

"I  am  waiting  from  day  to  day,  and  fear  that  something  may 
liave  happened  to  her.  Dear  Fischer,  would  you  be  so  very  kind 
as  to  see  if  my  wife  is  still  in  Dresden,  and  let  me  know  at  once 
in  case  she  should  be  ill  ?  If  you  find  her  still  there,  tell  her  that 
I  have  not  vrritten  lately  because  I  expected  daily  to  hear  of  her 
arrival  ;  otherwise  I  would  have  told  her  that  my  outlook  is  im- 
proving, that  I  have  good  news  from  Weimar,  while  here  the  near 
future  is  provided  for,  so  that  she  need  have  no  anxiety  ;  300 
florins  have  been  advanced  to  me  by  a  friend  who  took  the  Lohen- 
grin score  in  pawn  for  it ;  besides,  I  have  been  asked  by  several 
admirers  to  read  my  latest  opera-poems  in  the  autumn,  before  a 
private  audience  and  for  a  good  price  ;  also,  to  give  a  concert  of 
my  own  compositions.  ...  In  short,  let  her  take  courage  and 
come  at  once." 

To  judge  by  the  letters  of  these  few  months  of  separa- 
tion, Wagner  was  much  attached  to  his  wife.  There  are 
a  dozen  passages  in  which  he  writes  as  if  he  could  not 
work  before  he  had  a  cosy  home  again  and  his  wife  to 
preside  over  it.     His  appeals  to  Liszt  are  touching:  — 

"  As  soon  as  I  have  my  wife  I  shall  go  to  work  again  joyfully. 
Restore  me  to  my  art !  You  see  that  I  am  attached  to  no  home, 
but  I  cling  to  this  poor,  good,  faithful  woman,  for  whom  I  have 
provided  little  but  grief,  who  is  serious,  solicitous,  and  without 
expectation,  and  who  nevertheless  feels  eternally  chained  to  this 
unruly  devil  that  I  am.  Restore  her  to  me  !  Thus  will  you  do 
me  all  the  good  that  you  could  ever  wish  me ;  and  see,  for  this  I 
shall  be  yrateful  to  you  !  yes,  grateful !  .  .  .  See  that  she  is  made 
happy  and  can  soon  return  to  me  !  alas  !  which,  in  our  sweet  nine- 
teenth-century language,  means,  send  her  as  much  money  as  you 
possibly  can  !  Yes,  that  is  the  kind  of  a  man  I  am  !  I  can  beg,  I 
could  steal,  to  make  my  wife  happy,  if  only  for  a  short  time.  You 
dear,  good  Liszt  I  do  see  what  you  can  do  1  Help  me  1  help  me, 
dear  Liszt  1 " 


230      REVOL UTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

Minna  came  at  last,  and  Wagner's  happiness  overflowed 
into  a  letter  to  Heine  (No.  11)  :  — 

"  My  wife  has  happily  arrived  ;  I  went  as  far  as  Korschach  on 
Lake  Constanz  to  meet  her.  The  bird  and  the  dog  are  also  here, 
and  a  small  home  we  are  now  engaged  in  furnishing ;  the  delicious 
Swiss  air,  the  grand,  inspiring  Alpine  views,  some  excellent  friends 
I  have  made  here,  a  feeling  of  freedom,  unimpeded  activity,  energy, 
and  the  mood  to  work,  —  all  this  combined  makes  me,  and  my 
dear  wife,  too,  cheerful,  and  I  think  that  this  good  humor  will 
bring  forth  some  valuable  fruits." 


^o 


The  one  thing  that  troubles  him  is  that  opera  which 
he  is  to  compose  for  Paris.  He  writes  as  if  he  would 
almost  sooner  emigrate  to  America  than  work  with  French 
tools.  Unfortunately,  his  wife,  as  well  as  Liszt,  is  a 
Philistine  in  this  matter.  Both  want  him  to  do  what  he 
cannot  do  —  make  concessions,  write  a  French  opera  to 
a  French  text,  when  he  feels  that  he  cannot  possibly  do 
anything  but  write  a  German  opera  on  a  German  subject. 
Liszt  urges  him  to  be  diplomatic;  to  leave  politics,  per- 
sonalities, and  revolutionary  ideas  alone ;  to  pay  court  to 
Roger  and  Madame  Viardot,  to  critics  and  managers,  for 
the  sake  of  his  musical  outlook;  while  Minna  is  a  Philis- 
tine for  domestic  reasons.  She  cannot  understand  why 
her  husband,  whom  she  knows  to  be  a  clever  fellow, 
should  not  provide  pot-boilers  by  writing  for  the  art- 
market  what  the  market-people  happened  to  want  at  the 
moment.  Here  he  was  actually  burning  with  the  desire 
to  waste  his  time  in  writing  his  Siegfried's  Death,  when, 
by  his  own  confession,  he  had  no  hope  that  a  manager 
could  be  found  during  his  lifetime  who  would  produce 
it,  or  artists  who  could  sing  and  act  it! 

Had  it  not  been  for  his  wife  —  and  his  Dresden  credi- 


MINNA    WAGNER  JOINS  HER  HUSBAND      231 

tors  —  Wagner  would  have  given  up  the  Paris  opera  busi- 
ness at  once.  That  Minna,  with  all  her  beauty  and 
domestic  qualities,  was  not  the  right  sort  of  a  wife  for 
a  genius  and  a  reformer,  is  most  convincingly  shown  in 
this  passage  from  a  letter  to  Uhlig  (No.  2)  :  — 

"  She  is  really  somewhat  hectoring  in  this  matter,  and  I  shall 
DO  doubt  have  a  hard  tussle  with  her  practical  sense  if  I  tell  her 
bluntly  that  I  do  not  wish  to  write  an  opera  for  Paris.  True,  she 
would  shake  her  head  and  accept  that  decision  too,  were  it  not  so 
closely  related  to  our  means  of  subsistence ;  there  lies  the  critical 
knot,  which  it  will  be  painful  to  cut.  Already  my  wife  is  ashamed 
of  our  presence  in  Zurich,  and  thinks  we  ought  to  make  everybody 
believe  that  we  are  in  Paris," 

because  the  news  had  got  abroad  that  he  was  writing  an 
opera  for  that  city.  She  was  also  distressed  by  his 
readiness  to  borrow  money,  and  even  to  accept  gifts  of 
money.  He  tried  to  convince  her  that,  "  whoever  helps 
me,  only  helps  my  art  through  me,  and  the  sacred  cause 
for  which  I  am  lighting."  Womanlike,^  Minna  could 
see  only  the  personal  side  of  the  question;  the  point  of 
view  indicated  in  the  last  quotation  escaped  her  compre- 
hension. To  her  it  seemed  vastly  more  important  that 
he  should  preserve  his  social  "  respectability  "  by  writing 
pot-boilers,  and  not  accepting  money-presents,  than  that 
he  should  create  unremunerative  Avorks  of  genius  for  the 
edification  of  future  generations.  In  a  word,  she  was  a 
Philistine. 

1  Critic-like,  perhaps  I  should  have  said ;  for  to  jud^e  by  the  tone  of 
the  reviews  of  the  Wagner-Lizst  letters  a  few  years  ago,  most  of  the 
critics  had  got  just  about  as  far  as  Minna  in  their  appreciation  of 
Wagner's  character. 


232     REVOLUTION  —  AUTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 


WIELAND   THE   SMITH 

Once  more  Wagner  yielded  to  the  urgency  of  the  occa- 
sion, however  hard  it  went  against  the  grain  of  his  con- 
science. On  his  return  to  Zurich  he  had  been  "as  happy 
as  a  dog  who  has  just  got  through  with  his  whipping," 
in  the  belief  that  he  was  free  at  last  to  work  and  act  in 
accordance  with  his  exalted  ideals:  and  now  his  best 
friends  were  nagging  him  once  more  to  go  to  Paris,  to 
seek  to  prostitute  his  muse.  Read  his  own  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  the  result  (Letters  to  Heine,  No.  14) :  — 

"  I  saw  that  my  wife,  too,  had  nothing  but  the  Paris  bee  in  her 
bonnet,  so  I  resolved,  ill,  very  ill  as  I  was,  to  go  to  Paris,  in  the 
devil's  name,  and,  as  you  can  fancy,  in  the  most  deliglitful  mood. 
This  visit  to  Paris  [Feb.,  1850]  forms  of  all  my  experiences  one 
of  the  most  detestable.  Everything  that  I  knew  before,  and 
expected,  happened  literally.  My  sketch  for  an  operatic  poem 
quite  justly  seemed  ludicrous  to  all  who  were  familiar  with  French 
and  the  Paris  Opera;  the  condition  of  this  Opgra,  the  Prophet, 
No.  5,  and  all  the  impressions  therewith  connected,  made  me  look 
on  myself  as  a  madman :  finally,  not  even  to  succeed  in  getting 
one  of  my  overtures  performed,  — all  my  enormous  loathing  of  the 
Banquier-Musik,  from  which  every  respectable  person  in  Paris 
itself  turns  away,  —  all  this,  combined  with  my  nervous  prostra- 
tion, put  me  into  a  condition  which  did  not  tempt  me,  as  you 
can  imagine,  to  write  apologetic  explanations  to  my  friends  who 
expected  to  get  triumphant  reports  of  success  from  me.  On  the 
contrary,  I  had  got  to  such  a  point  that  I  felt  a  more  and  more 
urgent  desire  to  give  up  heaven  and  earth.  It  seemed  as  if  there 
had  been  a  conspiracy  of  all  who  were  near  me  to  nag  me  on  to 
the  utmost  limit  —  and  the  utmost  limit  I  had  indeed  reached,  for 
anything  seemed  to  me  preferable  to  a  continuance  of  life  with 
people  who  considered  the  very  thing  that  is  the  most  repulsive  to 
me  as  the  most  beneficial,  and  who  agree  that  theoretically  one 
should  be  an  honest  man,  but  in  practice  an  unprincipled  fellow." 


WIELAND   THE  SMITH  233 

The  subject  which  Wagner  liad  finally  chosen  for  his 
Paris  plan,  and  which  was  voted  "  ridiculous  "  there,  is 
Wieland  the  Smith.  Even  in  this  project  he  was  thus 
guided  by  his  sympathy  with  mythical  subjects.  It 
is,  moreover,  amusingly  characteristic  of  the  reformer 
that  even  here,  where  he  was  to  make  "concessions," 
he  writes  to  Uhlig  (No.  5)  about  his  plan  for  Wieland: 
"first  of  all  I  attack  the  five-act  opera  form,  then  the 
statute  according  to  which  in  every  grand  opera  there 
must  be  a  ballet " ;  and  in  the  same  letter  he  suggests 
the  necessity  of  starting  a  special  musical  journal  which 
is  to  attack  one  tower  after  another,  "the  bombarding 
to  continue  as  long  as  the  ammunition  lasts ! " 

Wieland  was  actually  put  into  the  form  of  a  libretto 
in  prose,  which  only  needed  versifying  to  make  it  ready 
for  the  composer;  and  as  such  it  is  printed  in  Vol.  III. 
of  the  Gesammelte  Shriften.  Though  it  contains  some 
striking  operatic  situations  and  is  an  interesting  story 
in  itself,  it  is  not  equal  to  his  other  dramas;  his  heart 
was  not  in  it  (Uhlig,  No.  10) :  — 

"  Just  as  I  am  fresh  and  eager  for  all  undertakings  into  which  I 
can  throw  my  whole  soul,  so  was  I  sad  and  slow  when  Paris  was 
the  subject.  Nothing  would  succeed  with  me.  "With  endless  trou- 
ble I  forced  myself  to  my  Wieland ;  it  always  sounded  to  me  like 
'■comment  vous  portez-vous ? ''  —  the  ink  wouldn't  flow,  the  pen 
scratched:  without  was  dull,  bad  weather." 

He  never  came  back  to  this  dramatic  sketch,  but  on  his 
return  from  Paris  he  offered  it  to  Liszt,  giving  as  reason 
why  he  himself  did  not  want  it,  that  it  had  been  written 
in  a  painful  mood,  which  he  was  loatli  to  recall  by  set- 
ting it  to  music.  He  even  offered  to  do  the  versifying 
for  him,  but  Liszt  had  no  wish  to  compose  an  opera ;  and 


234      REVOLUTION  —  ARTISTIC  AND  POLITICAL 

two  years  later  the  thought  occurred  to  Wagner  that  it 
might  be  offered  to  Berlioz,  whose  ill-success  he  attrib- 
uted largely  to  his  want  of  skill  in  preparing  his  own 
texts.  This  offer,  however,  was  never  made,  so  far  as 
the  epistolary  record  shows.-' 

1  Further  details  of  the  Wielard  episode  in  Paris  may  be  found  in 
No.  10  of  the  letters  to  Uhlig. 


LOHENGRIN   AT   WEIMAR-- 


DOUBT   AND   DARING 


It  was  on  the  twenty -eighth  of  August,  1847,  that 
Wagner  had  put  the  last  touches  to  the  Lohengrin  Prel- 
ude, thereby  completing  the  whole  opera.  ^  On  Sept.  22 
of  the  following  year  the  finale  of  tlie  first  act  was  given 
at  a  concert  in  celebration  of  the  three-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  formation  of  the  Dresden  orchestra:  this 
was  the  only  thing  in  his  opera  that  Wagner  had  been 
able  to  get  a  hearing  of  before  his  flight  from  Dresden. 
On  Aug.  9,  1849,  he  wrote  to  Uhlig  from  Zurich :  — 

"Yesterday,  at  last,  I  received  my  scores  !  I  played  over  a  few 
things  in  Lohengrin  at  the  piano,  and  I  cannot  tell  you  what 
a  vyonderfully  deep  impression  this,  my  own  work,  made  on  me." 

On  April  21,  1850,  he  wrote  to  Liszt :  — 

"  My  dear  friend,  I  have  just  read  a  little  in  the  score  of  Lohen- 
grin ;  it  is  not  my  custom  to  read  my  own  works.  It  aroused  a 
burning  desire  in  me  to  have  this  opera  performed.  I  beg  you 
herewith  to  take  my  wish  to  heart.  Bring  out  my  Lohengrin  ! 
You  are  the  only  one  to  whom  I  would  put  this  request ;  to  no  one 
but  you  would  I  entrust  the  creation  of  this  opera  ;  but  to  you  I 
surrender  it  with  the  fullest,  most  joyous  confidence.  ...  In 
Dresden  there  is  a  correct  score  ;  Herr  von  Liittichau  bought  it  of 

1  It  is  a  general  rule  among  composers,  as  among  authors,  to  write 
their  "  prefaces  "  last. 

236 


236  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

me  for  the  copying  price  of  thirty-six  thalers  ;  as  he  does  not  wish 
to  produce  it  (whicli,  in  fact,  I  would  not  permit  under  tlie  present 
musical  direcr.r.ship),  you  may  succeed  in  getting  that  copy  for 
thirty -six  thalers,  or  at  any  rate  have  another  one  made  from  it." 
etc. 

This  is  tlie  letter  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the 
oft-quoted  passage  from  the  Mitthe'duvg  (IV.  414) :  — 

"  At  the  close  of  my  last  Paris  sojourn,  when  I  was  ill,  unhappy, 
and  in  despair,  my  eye  fell  on  the  score  of  my  Lohengrin,  which 
I  had  almost  forgotten.  A  pitiful  feeling  overcame  me  that  these 
tones  would  never  resound  from  the  deathly-pale  paper ;  two  words 
I  wrote  to  Liszt,  the  answer  to  whicii  was  nothing  else  than  the 
information  that,  as  far  as  the  resources  of  the  Weimar  Opera  per- 
mitted, the  most  elaborate  preparations  were  being  made  for  the 
production  of  Lohengrin.'''' 

Liszt  had  arranged  his  programme  with  the  wisdom  of 
a  man  of  the  world.  In  the  week  of  Goethe's  birthday 
(Aug.  28,)  there  was  to  be  a  great  concourse  of  people  at 
Weimar  to  celebrate  the  unveiling  of  the  Herder  monu- 
ment.^ As  this  was  out  of  the  regular  opera  season, 
Liszt  decided  to  make  a  special  event  of  the  Lohengrin 
premiere,  as  its  importance  deserved,  the  singers  being 
recalled  from  their  vacation  for  the  rehearsals  and  two 
public  performances,  whereupon  the  house  was  to  be 
closed  again  till  the  opening  of  the  regular  season. 

"Your  Lohengrin''''  (he  wrote,  Wagner-Liszt  Correspondence, 
No.  34)  "will  be  given  under  conditions  that  are  most  unusual 
and  most  favorable  for  its  success.  The  direction  will  spend  on 
this  occasion  almost  2000  thalers  [$1500],  —  a  sum  unprecedented 

1  By  a  happy  coincidence,  of  which  neither  Liszt  nor  Wagner  seem 
to  have  been  aware,  Aug.  28  was  also  the  third  birthday  of  the  com- 
pleted Lohengrin. 


DOUBT  AND  DARING  237 

at  Weimar  within  memory  of  man.^  The  press  shall  not  be  for- 
gotten, and  dignified,  serious  articles  will  appear  in  succession  in 
different  papers.  The  artists  will  be  all  fire  and  flame.  The  num- 
ber of  violins  will  be  somewhat  increased  (from  sixteen  to  eigh- 
teen) ;  the  bass  clarinet  has  been  bought ;  no  essential  detail  will 
be  omitted  from  the  musical  web  and  its  sketch.  I  shall  personally 
undertake  all  the  piano,  choral,  and  orchestral  rehearsals,  while 
Genast  will  zealousy  follow  your  indications  regarding  the  staging. 
It  is  a  matter  of  course  that  we  shall  not  omit  a  note  nor  a  comma 
of  your  work,  but  that  we  will  give  it,  as  far  as  in  our  power  lies, 
in  all  its  immaculate  beauty." 

To  make  quite  sure  of  following  out  his  friend's  inten- 
tion, Liszt  begs  him  for  some  metronomic  marks  and 
other  directions,  supplementary  to  those  contained  in  the 
text  and  the  full  score.  Wagner  complies  willingly  and 
eagerly  in  a  long  series  of  letters, — Nos.  31  to  53, — 
which  accordingly  form  an  invaluable  Guide  to  the  per- 
formance of  Lohengrin  —  a  Guide  which  perhaps  throws 
more  light  on  his  principles  of  composition  and  on  his 
new  style  of  dramatic  vocalism  than  his  elaborate  theo- 
retical treatises,  in  which  concrete  cases  are  only  intro- 
duced by  way  of  illustration,  while  here  everything  is  so 
direct  that  the  reader  may  imagine  himself  a  student 

1  To-day  we  know  that  ten  times  that  sum  does  not  suffice  to  put 
Lohengrin  on  the  stage  according  to  Wagner's  sumptuous  intentions. 
A  {jood  part  of  tliis  "  unprecedented  sum  "  of  S'lSOO  came  from  the  pri- 
vate purse  of  tlie  Grand  Duchess,  and  among  the  extra  expenses  were 
the  hiring  of  l)ass-clarinet  and  harp  players,  which  tlie  operatic  orches- 
tra did  not  include,  and  extra  trombones.  Richard  Pohl  relates  tliat 
the  tenor,  Herr  Beck,  was  entirely  unable  to  do  justice  to  tlie  title  role, 
and  as  lie  sofni  tliereaftcr  retired  fi'oni  the  stage,  it  was  whispered  tliat 
Wagner's  music  liad  ruined  his  voice  !  Fold  also  relates  that  among 
the  violins  in  the  orchestra  there  was  no  less  a  virtuoso  tlian  Joseph 
Joacliim,  then  only  nineteen  years  old.  Liszt  was  the  first  who  dis- 
covered his  value,  and  he  brouglit  him  from  the  Gewandhaus  orches- 
tra in  Leipzig  to  be  his  Concertmeister  in  Weimar. 


238  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

standing  on  the  stage  and  receiving  from  Wagner  a  viva 
voce  lesson  in  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  modern 
mnsic-drama.'^ 

In  Liszt's  replies  to  Wagner,  there  is  nothing  so 
remarkable  as  his  growing  admiration  of  the  score,  mixed 
with  serious  apprehensions  as  to  whether  Lohengrin  could 
be  really  made  a  success !  Before  there  was  any  question 
as  to  its  performance  at  Weimar,  Liszt  had  written 
(No.  24) :  — 

"I  found  it  difficult  to  separate  myself  from  your  Lohengrin 
score.  The  more  deeply  I  entered  into  its  plan  and  the  masterly 
execution  of  it,  the  higher  rose  my  enthusiasm  for  this  extraordi- 
nary work.  You  will,  however,  pardon  my  petty  timidity  if  I  still 
entertain  some  doubts  regarding  the  completely  satisfactory  results 
of  a  performance  of  it." 

A  few  weeks  before  this  he  had  written :  — 

"The  wonderful  score  of  Lohengrin  has  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  me;  for  a  performance,  however,  I  would  feel  some  appre- 
hensions on  account  of  the  highly  ideal  coloring  which  you  have 
retained  throughout.  You  will  consider  me  a  sordid  business  man, 
but  my  true  friendship  for  you  justifies  me  in  saying  .  .  ."  ^ 

1  Vocal  teachers,  in  and  out  of  conservatories,  cannot  be  too  seri- 
ously urged  to  place  these  letters  in  the  hands  of  their  pupils.  They 
will  correct  many  prevalent  notions  regarding  Wagner's  vocal  style, 
and  will  do  much  to  help  their  pupils  to  success  in  the  modern  style  of 
dramatic  vocalism,  which  at  present  has  the  highest  market  value.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  while  what  Wagner  says  (in  No. 
41)  regarding  German  and  Italian  vocalists  was  true  in  1850,  since  then 
a  new  school  of  dramatic  vocalism  has  been  formed,  which  in  the  higher 
aspects  of  the  art  (emotional  accent,  and  expression)  makes  the  great 
German  singers  of  to-day  safer  guides  and  models  than  those  of  the  Ital- 
ian school.     See  the  chapter  on  Wagner's  vocal  style  in  this  volume. 

2  The  sentence  is  not  completed,  either  because  the  manuscript  was 
torn  or  because  Wagner's  widow  (Liszt's  daughter)  in  editing  these 
letters  saw  fit  to  suppress  what  followed. 


DOUBT  AND  DARING  239 

Wagner's  reply  (TSTo.  26)  is  so  characteristic  that  I 
must  italicize  part  of  it :  — 

"  Your  doubts  regarding  the  satisfactory  effect  of  a  performance 
of  this  opera  have  often  risen  in  me  too  :  I  believe,  however,  that 
if  the  performance  itself  harmonizes  with  my  coloring,  the  business 
(even  the  close)  will  come  out  all  right !  What  we  need  here  is  to 
dare!'' 

He  himself  was  never  afraid  to  "  dare  "  anything.  Al- 
though he  was  aware  that  not  a  few  of  his  fellow-revolu- 
tionists were  now  shut  up  in  the  Saxon  prisons,  he  was 
eager  to  risk  a  trip  in  disguise  to  AVeimar  to  attend  the 
first  performance  of  Lohengrin;  and  he  would  no  doubt 
have  gone,  if  Liszt  had  given  him  the  slightest  encour- 
agement. He  admits  that  it  would  be  a  desperate  move, 
especially  as  he  was  no  longer  indiiferent,  as  some  time 
before,  to  being  locked  up  in  prison;  but  perhaps  the 
Grand  Duchess  or  the  Duke  of  Coburg  could  help  him 
in  this  plan.  He  promised  to  be  very  careful  to  preserve 
his  incognito.  "See  what  you  can  do!  At  any  rate  I, 
poor  devil,  would  once  more  look  forward  to  a  pleasant 
experience  —  perhaps  also  receive  a  new  stimulus  and 
much  needed  encouragement  to  work." 

But  Liszt  was  too  practical  to  be  softened  by  his 
friend's  pleading,  and  he  replied,  in  italics,  that  the 
projected  incognito  visit  was  an  absohite  impossibility. 
He  writes,  however,  that  he  and  the  artists  are  floating 
in  the  ether  of  Lohengrin  and  confident  of  being  able  to 
give  a  correct  performance:  "Adieu,  dear  friend;  I  find 
your  work  sublime." 

While  the  rehearsals  are  going  on,  let  us  cast  a  glance 
at  this  opera  of  which  Liszt  was  the  first  to  discover  the 
sublimity. 


240  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 


THE   STORY   OF   LOHENGRIN 

Act  I.  The  rising  curtain  reveals  a  meadow  near 
Antwerp,  on  which  King  Heinrich  der  Vogler  (tenth 
century)  has  assembled  the  nobles  of  Brabant  to  prepare 
for  defence  against  the  Hungarian  invaders,  and  also, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  period,  to  sit  in  judgment 
over  their  own  disputes.  Count  Telramund,  who  has 
the  reputation  of  a  most  valiant  soldier  and  nobleman, 
being  called  upon  for  an  explanation  of  the  troubles 
which  have  come  to  the  King's  ears,  steps  forward  to 
relate  that  the  Duke  of  Brabant,  on  his  deathbed, 
entrusted  to  his  care  his  two  children,  Elsa  and  Gott- 
fried. He  guarded  them  like  the  apple  of  his  eye ;  but 
one  day  Elsa  took  a  walk  in  the  forest  with  her  brother 
and  returned  without  him.  No  trace  of  him  could  ever 
be  found,  and  from  Elsa's  strange  conduct  no  doubt  could 
remain  that  she  had  murdered  him  in  order  to  become 
herself  mistress  of  Brabant,  and  share  the  rule  with  a 
secret  lover,  whom  she  was  suspected  of  favoring.  He 
had  therefore  voluntarily  renounced  the  right  to  her 
hand,  which  her  father  had  given  him,  and  had  married 
Ortrud,  a  descendant  of  the  former  rulers  of  the  country, 
the  Dukes  of  Friesland.  He  being  the  nearest  relative  of 
the  Duke  of  Brabant,  Telramund  accordingly  claims  the 
rule  over  his  country  for  himself,  and  demands  that  Elsa 
be  punished  for  fratricide. 

The  King  is  loath  to  believe  in  such  a  horrible  crime, 
but  his  duty  is  to  summon  Elsa  and  hear  her  answer  to 
the  charge,  and  then  proceed  to  his  judgment.  Elsa 
appears    in    simple  white   attire,  accompanied   by    her 


TUE  STORY   OF  LOUENGRIN  241 

female  retinue  in  similar  dress.  To  the  King's  ques- 
tion whether  she  confessed  her  guilt,  she  replies  with 
the  words,  "My  poor  brother";  and  after  a  pause  she 
relates,  as  one  in  a  trance,  how,  one  day,  as  she  was 
pouring  out  her  grief  in  prayer,  she  fell  into  a  sweet 
sleep,  and  in  her  dreams  she  saw  a  knight  in  silver  armor 
and  with  a  golden  horn  at  his  side  who  came  to  her  and 
spoke  words  of  consolation.  The  King  is  touched  by 
her  innocent  appearance  and  demeanor,  but  Telramund 
declares  that  her  "  dream  "  only  proves  his  insinuations 
regarding  her  secret  lover.  He, is  ready  to  submit  the 
matter  to  a  trial  by  combat,  and  the  King  asks  Elsa  who 
is  to  be  her  champion.  "The  Knight  of  my  vision,"  is 
her  answer;  "he  shall  wear  my  father's  crown,  and  call 
me  wife  too,  so  he  will."  Four  trumpeters  now  blow 
their  signal  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  compass,  and  the 
Herald,  in  loud  voice,  summons  whatever  Kniglit  will 
do  battle  in  Elsa's  cause.  Painful  silence  —  no  answer. 
Elsa  begs  the  King  to  repeat  the  summons,  and  once 
more  the  trumpeters  and  the  Herald  are  heard.  Silence 
again.  Elsa  falls  on  her  knees,  in  fervent  prayer,  when 
suddenly  there  is  a  great  commotion  among  the  soldiers 
and  attendants  in  the  background.  A  boat,  draAvn  by  a 
swan,  is  seen  coming  down  the  river,  and  on  it  stands  a 
Knight  in  silver  uniform  and  helmet,  with  a  golden  horn 
at  his  side.  After  the  joyous  acclamations  with  which 
his  arrival  is  greeted  by  the  chorus  have  subsided,  Lohen- 
grin steps  off  his  boat  and  in  tones  that  are  surrounded 
by  a  halo  of  harmonies,  dismisses  the  swan,  and  proclaims 
that  he  has  come  to  defend  the  innocent  maid.  Tlien 
turning  to  Elsa,  who  has  thrown  herself  at  his  feet,  he 
asks  if  she  will  place  her  cause  in  his  hands  and  accept 


242  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

him  as  her  spouse  if  he  wins,  Elsa  promises  to  be  his. 
body  and  soul;  but  there  is  one  more  thing  which  he 
makes  her  promise :  she  must  never  ask  him  who  he  is 
or  whence  he  came.  "Never,"  she  replies,  "shall  this 
question  cross  my  lips."  The  combat  follows,  in  which 
Telramund  is  floored;  but  Lohengrin  generously  spares 
his  life,  and  the  act  comes  to  a  close  in  a  grand  finale  in 
which  the  rage  and  disappointment  of  Telramund  and 
Ortrud  are  mingled  with  and  overpowered  by  the  joyous 
exclamations  of  the  King  and  his  retinue,  and  the  love 
duo  of  Elsa  and  Lohengrin. 

Act  II.  Telramund  and  Ortrud,  disgraced  by  the  issue 
of  the  combat  which  established  Elsa's  innocence  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law,  are  seen  sitting  in  the  gloom  of  niglit  on 
the  steps  of  the  palace  at  Antwerp,  which  is  brilliantly 
illuminated  inside.  The  sounds  of  festive  music  proceed- 
ing from  within  help  to  deepen  the  gloom  of  the  figures 
without.  Telramund  reproaches  Ortrud  bitterly  for  what 
she  has  done;  for  he  now  sees  clearly  that  she  lied  to 
him  when  she  told  him  that  she  had  with  her  own  eyes 
seen  Elsa  drown  her  brother.  It  was  with  this  false- 
hood, combined  with  her  prophecy  that  the  old  Frisian 
dynasty,  of  which  she  was  the  last  representative,  was 
about  to  return  to  power,  that  she  had  led  him  to  give 
up  Elsa  and  marry  her,  with  the  consequence  of  losing 
his  all.  Even  the  sword  has  been  taken  from  the  dis- 
honored, else  it  would  have  fared  ill  with  his  wife.  But 
Ortrud  attempts  to  pacify  him  by  disclosing  her  plan  of 
revenge.  She  has  inherited  the  gift  of  sorcery  from  her 
heathen  ancestors,  and  Lohengrin's  secret  is  therefore  no 
secret  for  her.  She  knows  and  tells  Telramund  that  if 
Elsa  can  be  induced  to  ask  her  lover  the  forbidden  ques- 


THE  STORY  OF  LOHENGRIN  243 

tion, —  who  he  is  and  whence  he  came, —  he  will  have  to 
leave  her  immediately  and  return  to  his  home.  She  also 
tells  him  that  if  but  the  smallest  limb  —  if  only  a  joint 
of  his  lingers  —  betaken  from  Lohengrin,  he  will  become 
})o\verless  as  any  mortal.  This,  then,  is  to  be  their  cam- 
paign :  she  herself  Avill  infuse  the  poison  of  doubt  and 
curiosity  in  Elsa's  heart,  while  Telramund  is  to  attempt 
to  convince  the  King  that  Lohengrin  is  a  sorcerer,  who 
has  won  his  battle  through  witchcraft;  or,  failing  that, 
to  make  an  attempt  on  his  life. 

Elsa  appears  in  the  balcony  to  the  left,  and  on  hearing 
her  voice  Ortrud  urges  Telramund  to  go  away  and  leave 
her  to  carry  out  her  plan.  Elsa,  too  happy  to  bear  a 
grudge  against  any  one,  comes  down  to  admit  Ortrud,  who 
thus  gets  the  coveted  opportunity  to  poison  the  trusting 
girl's  mind  with  fatal  suspicions.  The  day  breaks,  and 
the  place  before  the  palace  gradually  fills  up  with  nobles 
and  their  followers,  all  in  the  gayest  mood.  A  Herald 
announces  that  the  King  has  proclaimed  Telramund  an 
outlaw,  and  that  Lohengrin  is  to  be  ruler  of  Brabant  and 
to  lead  the  forces  to  battle  against  the  Hungarians.  The 
bridal  procession  of  Elsa  now  marches  across  the  stage. 
Among  the  women  is  Ortrud,  richly  dressed;  and  just  as 
the  procession  reaches  the  cathedral  steps,  she  rushes 
forward  and  claims  precedence  over  Elsa,  whose  bride- 
groom she  pronounces  a  sorcerer  who  vanquished  her 
husband  by  evil  arts  —  the  reason  why  he  forbade  all 
questions  as  to  liis  name  and  home.  The  opportune  arrival 
of  the  King,  followed  by  Lohengrin  and  the  nobles,  puts 
an  end  to  this  painful  scene;  but  hardly  has  the  proces- 
sion begun  to  move  again,  when  there  is  a  second  inter- 
ruption.    Telramund  has   suddenly  mounted  the  steps 


244  LOHENGRIN  AT    WEIMAR 

and  turns  to  hurl  against  Lohengrin  the  same  accusations 
as  those  just  heard  from  Ortrud's  lips.  He  does  not 
succeed,  however,  in  shaking  the  confidence  of  the  wed- 
ding guests,  who,  on  tlie  contrary,  crowd  around  Lohen- 
grin to  pledge  their  trust  by  a  hand-shake.  This  gives 
Telramund  an  opportunity  to  get  near  Elsa  and  to 
whisper  into  her  ear  that  she  is  in  danger  of  losing 
Lohengrin;  but  if  she  will  only  give  him  an  opportunity 
to  cut  off  one  of  his  finger  tips,  he  will  never  be  able  to 
leave  her.  This  evidently  makes  an  impression  on  Elsa, 
but  when  Lohengrin  comes  to  her  side  a  moment  later, 
she  sinks  confidingly  in  his  arms,  and  the  procession 
enters  the  cathedral,  to  the  solemn  sounds  of  the  organ. 
Act  III.  When  the  curtain  rises  again,  after  a  brilliant 
orchestral  introduction  which  depicts  the  bustle  and  joy 
of  the  wedding  day,  we  see  the  bridal  chamber,  into 
which  Elsa  with  her  companions  enters  on  one  side,  while 
Lohengrin,  with  the  King  and  nobles,  enters  on  the 
other,  to  the  strains  of  the  wedding  march  and  chorus. 
The  King  embraces  Lohengrin  and  Elsa  and  then  departs 
with  the  guests.  The  lovers  are  left  to  their  caresses, 
but  not  long  does  their  bliss  last.  Elsa  is  more  and 
more  overcome  by  the  curiosity  to  know  the  name  and 
origin  of  her  husband.  It  is  not  ordinary  feminine  curi- 
osity that  prompts  her;  nor  is  it  the  rankling  of  Ortrud's 
accusation  that  Lohengrin  had  won  the  battle  and  her 
through  witchcraft;  it  is  the  suspicion  instilled  in  her 
mind  by  Telramund  that  she  is  in  danger  of  losing 
Lohengrin  unless  she  resorts  to  magic  means  to  retain 
him.  At  first  she  uses  the  subtle  arts  of  her  sex :  "  It  is 
so  sweet  to  hear  you  say  Elsa ;  shall  I  not  also  have  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  the  sound  of  your  name?"    Lohen- 


THE  STORY  OF  LOUENGEIN  245 

orin  tries  to  calm  her  —  lie  did  not  doubt  her  innocence 
—  why  should  she  doubt  him?  But  Elsa  becomes  more 
and  more  excited:  the  sudden  change  from  a  maiden 
accused  of  fratricide  to  that  of  a  happy  wife  wedded  to 
the  lover  of  her  dream,  has  unstrung  her  nerves,  and  the 
terrible  thought  of  losing  Lohengrin  finally  assumes  in 
her  mind  the  form  of  a  sense-illusion  —  she  fancies  she 
hears  the  swan  approaching  to  take  her  lover  back  to 
that  region  of  eternal  bliss  whence  he  had  just  told  her 
he  had  come.  Losing  all  control  of  herself,  she  breaks 
her  promise  and  asks  the  fatal  question.  Hardly  have 
the  words  escaped  her  lips  when  she  sees  Telramund  and 
four  nobles  with  drawn  swords  enter  by  the  door  to  which 
Lohengrin's  back  is  turned.  Uttering  a  terrible  shriek, 
she  seizes  his  sword,  hands  it  to  him,  and  Telramund 
falls  pierced  to  the  heart.  Lohengrin  commands  his 
accomplices  to  carry  the  body  before  the  King.  Elsa 
has  recovered  from  her  morbid  excitement  and  is  now 
all  tears  and  contrition.  But  it  is  too  late.  The  mis- 
chief has  been  done,  and  her  lover  must  leave  her  forever. 
He  rings  the  bell,  and  places  Elsa  in  the  hands  of  her 
attendants,  bidding  them  bring  her  before  the  King, 
where  he  will  reveal  his  name  and  rank. 

The  scene  changes  back  to  the  meadow  by  the  river 
Scheldt.  The  sun  is  about  to  rise,  and  the  nobles  and 
warriors  assemble  to  prepare  for  their  campaign  and  to 
hear  the  King's  admonitions.  A  bier  with  the  covered 
body  of  Telramund  is  brought  on  the  stage,  and  shortly 
afterwards  Elsa  and  Lohengrin  arrive  separately.  The 
men  acclaim  Lohengrin  with  deliglit  as  their  head;  but 
to  their  dismay  he  replies  that  he  cannot  be  their  leader. 
Xot  only  that,  but  he  has  come  as  a  complainant.     He 


246  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

lifts  the  shroud  from  Telramund's  body:  "This  man 
attempted  my  life  at  night  —  did  I  do  right  to  slay 
him?"  —  "Heaven  will  punish  him  as  you  have  done  on 
earth,"  the  King  and  the  nobles  reply.  "But  there  is 
another  one,"  Lohengrin  continues,  "as  whose  accuser  I 
stand  here  —  Elsa,  my  wife.  She  promised,  before  you 
all,  not  to  ask  my  name  and  condition,  but  she  has  broken 
her  promise,  and  I  must  therefore  leave  her  and  you  at 
once ;  for  hear  who  I  am :  In  a  distant  land  lies  the  burg 
Montserrat  where  is  preserved  the  cup  known  as  the 
Holy  Grail.  Its  guardians  and  knights  are  endowed 
with  supernatural  power,  and  one  of  their  missions  is  to 
champion  the  rights  of  the  innocent  in  all  countries ;  but 
they  can  retain  their  power  only  by  preserving  the  secret 
of  their  origin.  If  that  is  discovered,  they  are  obliged 
to  return  to  Montserrat :  — 

"  Now  know  how  I  must  pimish  broken  faith! 
The  Grail  obeying  here  to  you  I  came  : 
My  father  Parzival  as  King  is  crowned; 
His  knight  am  I  —  and  Lohengrin  my  name." 

During  his  accusation  of  his  wife  and  the  narrative  of 
the  Grail,  Lohengrin  has  preserved  a  terrible  sternness; 
but  now  he  turns  to  Elsa,  and  the  demi-god's  severity 
melts  before  the  human  grief  at  the  thought  that  he  must 
break  his  OAvn  heart  and  hers  whom  he  so  deeply  loves, 
by  leaving  her  forever.  She  implores  him  frantically  to 
remain,  and  the  King  and  all  the  nobles  support  her 
prayer ;  but  he  declares  he  has  already  tarried  too  long : 
should  he  remain,  his  disobedience  to  the  Grail's  laws 
would  deprive  him  of  all  his  knightly  power.  As  he 
speaks,  there  is  a  great  commotion  in  the  background: 
"  The  swan !  the  swan ! "  the  men  and  women  exclaim, 


THE  FIRST  PERFOBMANCE  247 

and,  "Horrible,  ha,  the  swan!  the  swan!"  Elsa  repeats. 
Lohengrin  sadly  greets  his  bird  and  then  once  more  turns 
to  Elsa  and  tells  her  that  could  he  have  remained  at  her' 
side  but  one  year,  her  brother,  whom  she  considered 
dead,  but  who  had  been  changed  into  a  swan,  would  have 
returned  to  them,  released  through  the  Grail's  power 
from  the  sorcerer's  enchantment.  He  kisses  Elsa,  who 
has  clung  to  him  desperately  till  her  strength  leaves  her, 
and  approaches  the  swan,  when  Ortrud  suddenly  rushes 
forward  with  an  expression  of  wild  joy  and  exclaims : 
"Earewell.  proud  hero;  depart  that  I  may  tell  this  fool 
who  it  was  that  drew  her  knight's  boat!  I  recognize  the 
chain  with  which  I  changed  the  child  into  a  swan.  It 
was  the  heir  of  Brabant.  'Tis  well  that  you  drove  away 
the  knight,  for  had  he  remained  a  year  he  would  have 
freed  your  brother.  Thus  do  the  ancient  gods  avenge 
themselves  on  their  Christian  enemy!  "  In  her  malicious 
joy  Ortrud  has  revealed  her  secret  about  the  magic  chain. 
Lohengrin  has  heard  it;  after  a  brief  prayer  he  loosens 
the  chain  from  the  swan,  which  immediately  dives, 
while  a  dove  flutters  down  and  takes  its  place;  and  in 
the  spot  where  the  swan  disappeared  emerges  in  a 
moment  Gottfried.  But  Elsa's  joy  at  the  recovery  of 
her  brother  is  but  brief.  Looking  up  from  him,  she  sees 
Lohengrin  disappearing  on  the  boat.  "  My  husband,  my 
husband ! "  she  wails,  and  with  a  cry  she  sinks  lifeless 
into  Gottfried's  arms. 

THE  FIRST  PERFORMANCE 

It  was  on  Aug.  28,  1850,  that  this  beautiful  and 
pathetic  drama,  which  at  the  present  day  is  the  most 
pO})ular  work  in  the  wliole  operatic  repertory,  lirst  saw 


248  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

the  light  of  the  stage ;  and  a  few  days  later  Liszt  wrote 
to  Wagner :  — 

"  Your  Lohengrin  is  from  beginning  to  end  a  sublime  work.  At 
very  many  places  tears  well  to  my  eyes  from  the  heart.  As  the 
whole  opera  is  a  single,  indivisible  wonder,  it  is  impossible  for  me 
to  specify  this  or  that  trait,  this  or  that  combination  or  effect. 
Following  the  example  of  the  pious  priest  who  underscored  the 
whole  Imitation  of  Christ,  word  for  word,  you  might  find  me 
underscoring  the  whole  of  Lohengrin,  note  for  note.  The  begin- 
ning I  should  feel  inclined  to  make  at  the  duet  between  Elsa  and 
Lohengrin  in  the  third  act,  which  to  me  is  the  culmination  of  all 
that  is  true  and  beautiful  in  art. 

"  Our  first  performance  was  comparatively  satisfactoiy.  .  .  . 
The  court,  as  well  as  some  intelligent  Weimar  people,  are  full  of 
sympathy  and  admiration  for  your  work.  And  as  far  as  the  pub- 
lic is  concerned,  it  will  doubtless  consider  it  an  honor  to  applaud 
and  pronounce  that  beautiful  which  it  cannot  understand." 

It  is  easy  to  read  between  these  lines  that  Liszt  was 
not  satisfied  with  either  the  performance  of  the  opera  or 
its  reception  by  the  public.  That  Wagner  himself  would 
have  been  still  less  pleased  is  a  matter  of  course:  if 
Tannhduser  at  Dresden,  with  the  scenic  resources  of  a 
Court  Theatre,  and  several  of  the  greatest  living  dramatic 
singers,  had  left  his  mind  stored  with  "  tormenting  mem- 
ories," what  would  have  been  his  experiences  at  the  small 
Weimar  theatre,  where  there  were  no  great  singers  at  all, 
and  the  stage  resources  far  from  adequate  for  an  opera 
which  calls  for  such  sumptuous  scenery  and  costumes 
and  grand  processions  as  this  one  does!  The  general 
impression  which  he  received  from  various  sources  is 
reflected  in  this  passage  from  a  letter  to  Heine  (No.  14) :  — 

"The  performance  is  said  to  have  been  quite  good  in  all  subor- 
dinate points  ;  but  in  the  principal  point  —  the  artists  on  the  stage 


THE  FIRST  PERFORMANCE  249 

—  it  is  pronounced  weak  and  altogether  inadequate.  "Well,  that 
was  perhaps  inevitable  ;  I  cannot  expect  the  Lord  to  work  private 
miracles  in  my  behalf  by  letting  singers  of  the  kind  I  need  grow 
on  trees." 

And  to  Liszt  he  writes  (No.  41) :  — 

"  What  pleases  me  most  is  to  see  that  you  have  not  lost  cour- 
age, but  intend  —  notwithstanding  a  certain  atmosphere  of  disap- 
pointment about  you  —  to  devote  all  your  energies  to  the  task  of 
keeping  the  opera  afloat." 

He  was  especially  disturbed  by  the  information  that 
Lohengrin  had  lasted  almost  five  hours :  — 

"  I  had  gone  through  the  whole  opera,  soon  after  its  completion, 
to  ascertain  its  duration,  and  had  calculated  that  the  first  act 
should  take  up  not  much  over  an  hour,  the  second  1^  hours,  the 
last  again  something  over  an  hour,  so  that  altogether,  including 
intermissions,  I  reckoned  it  would  last  from  6  to  9.45  at  the 
latest." 

He  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  chief  trouble  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  singers  treat  a  portion  of  their  roles 
as  ordinary  recitatives  which  they  can  sing  as  slowly  as 
they  please;  whereas  in  Lohengrin  there  are  no  such 
recitatives  at  all,  but  everything  must  be  sung  in  time, 
modified  only  by  the  emotional  changes  and  nuances 
called  for  by  the  words  of  the  text.  Accordingly  he 
implores  Liszt :  ^  — 

1  The  ten-paj^e  letter  in  which  this  passage  occurs  (No.  41)  should  be 
copied  and  committed  to  memory  by  evciry  student  of  dramatic  sinj^iufj. 
It  will  be  worth  more  to  him  than  a  luuidred  ordinary  "  music  lessons." 
I  may  remark,  in  connection  witli  this,  that  if  students  of  music  would 
give  more  time  to  the  reading  of  good  musical  books,  and  a  trifle 
less  to  technical  exercises  with  vocal  teachers,  there  would  be  fewer 
failures  when  singers  come  before  the  public.  Brains  are  now  calbnl 
for  in  music  as  in  other  professions,  and  tlie  days  of  singing  marion- 
ettes are  over. 


250  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

"Be  firm  and  decisive  in  compelling  the  vocalists  to  sing  what 
they  take  for  recitatives  in  a  determined,  brisk  tempo.  It  is  espe- 
cially by  this  tx'eatment  of  the  recitatives  that  the  duration  of  the 
opera  can  be  reduced,  as  I  know  by  experience,  by  almost  an 
hour."  1 

Of  course,  as  the  Weimar  singers  liad  not  miraculously 
"grown  on  trees,"  they  could  not  be  expected  to  master 
at  once  that  new  style  of  brisk  dramatic  utterance  on 
which  the  life  of  Wagnerian  song  depends ;  so  there  was 
nothing  left  but  to  follow  the  usual  expedient  of  con- 
ductors in  face  of  incompetent  singers  —  omitting  parts 
of  the  score.  Both  Liszt  and  the  stage-manager  G-enast 
wrote  about  the  necessity  of  this  procedure  to  the  com- 
poser, who  at  first  complained  bitterly  of  this  "  capitula- 
tion" to  lazy  singers  and  easily  fatigued  opera-goers, 
threatened  to  "go  into  no  more  battles,"  to  "give  up  the 
whole  opera,"  to  look  on  Weimar  as  on  all  other  theatres, 
and  to  "  write  no  more  operas."  He  had  to  yield,  finally, 
but  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  cuts,  and  begged 
his  Weimar  friends,  if  they  must  make  them,  to  ask  no 
advice  of  him,  but  leave  him  in  ignorance  as  to  how  and 
where  his  opera  was  mutilated. 

One  omission,  however,  he  counselled  himself ;  namely, 
the  second  part  of  the  Grail  narrative  in  the  last  act, 
where  Lohengrin  relates  how  one  day  a  mournful  sound 
had  been  borne  on  the  air  to  the  Grail  Temple  telling  of 
a  maiden  in  distress;  how  a  swan  arrived  with  a  boat 
and  brought  him,  the  chosen  protector  of  the  maiden, 
to  the  scene  of  the  combat. 

The  Weimar  tenor  had  found  the  first  part  of  the  uar- 

1  He  might  have  said  by  more  than  an  hour.  Under  Mr.  Anton 
Seidl's  baton,  a  performance  of  Lohengrin  lasts  only  three  hours  and 
twenty  minutes,  excluding  intermissions. 


WAGIfERS   OPINION   OF  LOHENGRIN         251 

rative  so  exhausting  that  he  was  unable  to  sing  the 
second;  and  Wagner,  judging  that  this  would  probably 
be  the  case  with  most  tenors,  cancelled  this  passage  alto- 
gether.^ 

"WAGNER's   opinion   of   LOHENGRIN 

I  have  already  remarked  on  Wagner's  accurate  self- 
judgment  :  he  found  each  new  opera,  as  it  left  his  work- 
shop, better  than  its  predecessors ;  not  from  that  paternal 
feeling  which  makes  an  author  usually  like  his  youngest 
child  best,  but  from  a  deep  conviction  that  it  really  was 
the  best,  because  his  creative  imagination  was  maturing, 
and  his  artistic  instinct  and  experience  enabled  him  to 
attain  a  more  finished  style  and  a  more  organic  form. 
Thus,  as  in  1846  he  had  written  to  Liszt,  on  sending 
him  the  scores  of  Rienzi  and  Tannliuxiser :  "  I  wish  and 
hope  that  the  latter  may  please  you  more  than  the 
former";  so,  in  1853,  he  wrote  to  his  friend:  "I  cer- 
tainly share  your  preference  for  Lohengrin :  it  is  the  best 
thing  I  have  done  so  far."  In  another  letter  (No.  32), 
in  which  he  begs  Liszt  to  give  Lohengrin  without  cuts,  he 
says:  "I  have  in  this  opera  taken  pains  to  establish  such 
a  close,  plastic  relation  between  the  music,  the  poem, 
and  the  action,  that  I  believe  I  am  quite  sure  of  my 
cause  in  this  instance."  So  little  faith  had  he,  however, 
in  the  singers  and  audiences  of  this  period,  that  he 
frankly  confessed  to  the  Hartels,  when  he  tried  to  make 
arrangements   for  printing  the  score,  that  he   did  not 

1  It  is  printed  in  the  original  full  score,  but  not  in  the  vocal  score,  nor 
in  the  text-books.  The  omitted  lines  are  reprinted  in  Pohl's  Warner 
Studien,  p.  74.  The  whole  narrative  was  sung  at  the  Munich  perform- 
ances in  1869. 


252  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

believe  that  the  opera  would  come  much  into  vogue,  at 
least  during  his  lifetime,  —  which,  by  the  way,  was  not 
a  wise  way  to  talk  to  hesitating  publishers. 

Works  of  genius  often  have  a  peculiar  biographic  col- 
oring, derived  from  the  circumstances  under  which  they 
were  composed.  In  his  Communication  to  My  Friends 
Wagner  himself  points  out  this  biographic  element  in 
his  operas,  at  considerable  length.  Of  especial  interest 
are  his  remarks  on  Lohengrin  (Vol.  IV.  pp.  351-366),  in 
which  occurs  this  poetic  passage,  following  some  remarks 
on  the  sense  of  isolation  which  had  overcome  him  when 
he  found  no  sympathy  for  the  honest  and  lofty  artistic 
ideals  which  he  had  aimed  at  in  his  preceding  two 
operas : — 

"By  the  might  of  my  ardent  desire  I  had  now  climbed  to  the 
longed-for  height  of  the  pure,  the  chaste:  I  felt  myself  outside 
of  the  modern  world,  in  a  clarified,  sacred,  ethereal  atmosphere, 
which,  in  the  ecstasy  of  my  sense  of  isolation,  filled  me  with  vo- 
luptuous thrills  such  as  we  experience  on  a  lofty  alpine  summit, 
when,  with  our  head  in  the  blue  ocean  of  air,  we  look  down  on  the 
mountain  ridges  and  valleys  below.  Such  summits  the  thinker 
climbs  in  order  to  fancy  himself  '  laurified '  at  this  height  of  all 
that  is  'earthly,'  and  thus  placed  at  the  extreme  limit  of  human 
potentiality  :  here  at  last  he  can  enjoy  his  own  self,  and  amid  this 
enjoyment,  under  the  influence  of  the  colder  alpine  atmosphere, 
at  last  congeal  to  a  monumental  ice-figure,  which,  as  philosopher 
and  critic,  with  frosty  self-contentment,  contemplates  the  warm 
world  of  living  things  below.  —  The  longing  which  had  driven  me 
to  that  height  was  artistic,  sensuously  human :  what  I  wished  to 
escape  was  not  the  warmth  of  life.,  but  the  miasmatic,  sultry  at- 
mosphere of  the  trivial  sensuality  of  a  certain  phase  of  life  —  that 
of  the  actual  present." 

It  is  related  of  Dickens  and  other  famous  authors  that 
the  characters  drawn  by  their  fancy  became  after  a  time 


WAGNEB'S   OPINION   OF  LOHENGRIN         253 

SO  real  to  them  that  they  laughed  their  laughs  and  wept 
their  tears.  It  was  just  so  with  Wagner ;  he  confesses 
(IV.  369)  regarding  Elsa  and  Lohengrin:  "I  suffered 
actual  deep  grief  —  which  often  found  vent  in  scalding 
tears  —  when  I  realized  the  inevitable  tragic  necessity 
of  the  separation,  the  destruction,  of  the  two  lovers." 
Some  of  his  friends,  accustomed  to  operas  Avith  happy 
endings,  prevailed  upon  him  so  far  that  at  one  time  he 
seriously  contemplated  a  change  of  the  plot,  permitting 
Lohengrin  to  remain  with  Elsa;  further  reflection,  how- 
ever, convinced  him  that  such  a  change  would  mar  his 
tragedy  completely,  and  it  was  allowed  to  remain 
unaltered.^ 

Many  further  interesting  utterances  of  "Wagner  on 
Lohengrin  might  be  quoted,  but  the  limits  of  space  per- 
mit the  insertion  of  only  one  more  —  the  following 
admirable  analysis  (in  a  letter  to  Liszt,  No.  72)  of  the 
character  of  Ortrud,  which  shows  how  deeply  he  entered 
into  the  spirit  of  his  characters,  and  at  the  same  time 
reveals  his  opinion  of  political  women :  — 

"Ortrud  is  a  woman  who  does  not  knoio  love.  This  expresses 
everything,  even  the  most  terrible.  Her  sphere  is  politics.  A  polit- 
ical man  is  detestable,  but  a  political  woman  is  an  atrocity  :  such 
an  atrocity  I  had  to  portray.  There  is  one  kind  of  love  in  this 
woman,  the  love  of  the  past,  of  generations  that  have  perished, 
the  terrible,  insane  pride  of  ancestry,  which  can  only  utter  itself 
as  hatred  of  all  that  actually  exists  at  present.  In  a  man  such 
love  becomes  ridiculous,  but  in  a  woman  it  is  terrible,  because 
woman,  with  her  strong  natural  need  of  love,  must  love  something, 

1  Fortunately;  for  the  scene  of  Lohengrin's  farewell  is  one  of  the 
most  pathetic,  in  all  literature,  and  I  am  sure  tliat  many  of  my  readers, 
like  myself,  shed  tears  when  they  first  read  tliis  scene.  To  this  day  I 
cannot  read  or  hear  it  with  dry  eyes. 


254  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

and  her  pride  of  ancestry,  her  adherence  to  the  past,  consequently 
becomes  a  murderous  fanaticism.  History  shows  us  no  characters 
more  cruel  than  political  women.  It  is  therefore  not  jealousy  of 
Elsa  (in  reference  to  Friedrich)  that  sways  Ortrud,  but  her  whole 
passion  is  revealed  solely  in  that  scene  of  the  second  act  where, 
after  Elsa's  disappearance  from  the  balcony,  she  starts  up  from  the 
cathedral  step  and  invokes  her  old  long-forgotten  gods.i  She  is 
reactionary,  thinks  only  of  the  old,  and  is  therefore  hostile  to  all 
that  is  new,  in  the  most  ferocious  sense  of  the  word :  she  would 
like  to  exterminate  the  world  and  nature,  merely  to  bring  her  de- 
cayed gods  back  to  life.  And  this  is  not  a  mere  stubborn,  morbid 
whim  of  Ortrud's,  but  her  infatuation  takes  hold  of  her  with  the 
full  force  of  a  feminine  love-longing  which  has  had  no  food,  no 
growth,  no  object :  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  she  is  terribly 
grand.  Not  a  trace  of  pettiness  must  therefore  appear  in  her  per- 
sonation :  never  must  she  seem  simply  malicious  or  offended  ;  every 
utterance  of  her  scorn,  her  treachery,  must  reveal  the  whole  might 
of  that  terrible  madness  which  can  only  be  gratified  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  others  or  of  herself." 

What  critic,  what  commentator,  has  ever  analyzed  one 
of  Wagner's  characters  as  incisively  as  Ortrud's  soul  is 
here  dissected  and  laid  bare?  And  if  it  is  true  that  the 
highest  achievement  of  criticism  is  to  give  the  reader 
impressions  and  emotions  similar  to  those,  inspired  by 
the  art-work  itself,  where  can  you  find  a  more  perfect 
critic  than  Wagner  showed  himself  when  he  wrote  his 
poetic  analysis  of  the  Lohengrin  prelude  (V.  233),  in 
which  he  puts  into  words  what  the  orchestra  tells  in 
glowing   tones    and    colors  —  how    the    ecstatic    vision 

1  This  answers  (by  anticipation)  Dr.  Hueffer's  objection  that  "the 
introduction  in  a  by-the-way  manner  of  the  two  great  religious  prin- 
ciples [Christian  and  pagan]  appears  not  particularly  happy,  and  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  character  of  Ortrud,  although  grand  in  its 
conception,  has  suffered  through  this  unnecessary  complication  of  mo- 
tives."   According  to  Wagner,  it  is  the  very  key  to  Ortrud's  character. 


LISZT  ON  LOHENGRIN  255 

beholds  the  rarefied  ether  of  the  blue  sky  gradually 
condensing  into  the  definite  lines  and  forms  of  a  group 
of  angels  who  slowly  sink  down  to  the  earth,  bearing  in 
their  midst  the  Grail,  in  which  the  Saviour's  blood  had 
been  received ;  and  when  at  last  the  growing  radiance  of 
the  music  has  reached  its  climax,  and  the  holy  vessel  is 
uncovered  and  revealed  to  sight,  the  spectator's  senses 
are  dazed,  and  he  sinks  down  unconsciously,  in  rap- 
turous worship.  Having  diffused  the  heavenly  bless- 
ing with  the  visible  radiance  of  the  Grail,  the  angels 
slowly  ascend  with  it  skywards  and  disappear  again  in 
the  blue  ether  as  the  music  dies  away. 

LISZT   ON   LOHENGRIN 

Well  might  Wagner  write  to  Liszt :  *'  Your  friendship 
is  the  most  important  and  significant  occurrence  in  my 
life " ;  for  Liszt  not  only  gave  life  to  Lohengrin,  and 
provided  an  asylum  for  his  exiled  friend's  other  operas 
wlien  it  seemed  as  if  all  other  doors  were  being  shut 
against  them,  but  he  worked  with-  his  pen  as  industriously 
as  with  his  baton  to  promote  Wagner's  affairs.  He 
wrote  a  long  analytical  essay  on  Lohengrin  which,  com- 
ing from  such  a  world-famed  musician,  could  not  but 
create  a  sensation  and  attract  general  attention  to  the 
opera  which  he  praised  so  higlily.  It  remains  to  this 
day  the  best  essay  ever  written  on  Lohengrin ;  but  we 
who  read  it  to-day,  and  who  find  its  enthusiastic  praise 
the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  should  try  to  bear 
in  niind  what  insight  and  what  courage  it  took  to  write 
as  Liszt  did  about  Lohengrin  and  Wagner's  other  operas 
at  a  time  when  the  whole  musical  world  was  disposed  to 
look  upon  them  as  the  ephemeral  works  of  an  eccentric 


256  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAB 

iconoclast  and  an  enemy  of  all  that  is  true  and  beauti- 
ful in  music.  Liszt  boldly  declared  that  Wagner  was 
equally  great  as  poet  and  musician  and  the  greatest  of 
all  dramatic  composers ;  that  the  text  of  Lohengrin,  even 
apart  from  the  music,  had  the  originality  of  style,  the 
beauty  of  versification,  the  clever  arrangement  of  the 
dramatic  intrigue,  and  the  eloquent  language  of  passion 
which  raised  it  to  the  rank  of  a  great  literary  tragedy. 
"  Its  literary  merits  suffice, "  he  adds,  ''  to  place  its  author 
among  the  most  genuinely  endowed  dramatists  of  the 
world."  He  also  pointed  out  how  mediaeval  local  color 
is  given  to  the  verses  by  the  use  of  an  occasional  old 
German  word  and  turn  of  style,  by  following  Wolfram 
von  Eschenbach's  example  of  not  beginning  a  verse  with 
a  capital  letter  unless  it  opens  a  sentence,  etc.  "  This 
opera  must  doubtless  be  regarded  as  an  event  in  German 
music,  as  the  expression  of  a  new  system  in  dramatic 
art."  He  explains  the  ingenious  use  of  Leading  Motives 
(for  which  no  term  had  as  yet  been  coined),  and  compares 
this  new  principle  of  musical  form  to  a  new  style  of 
architecture,  which  could  not  be  altered  without  modify- 
ing its  whole  character  —  a  most  admirable  and  sugges- 
tive comparison,  which  the  reader  will  appreciate  more 
fully  after  perusing  the  chapter  on  Leading  Motives  in 
the  present  volume. 

"This  opera,"  he  continues,  "is  a  true  blending  of 
poetry  and  music,"  and  a  combination  of  all  these  effects 
suffices  to  make  "the  imaginative  part  of  the  audience 
leave  the  opera-house  convinced  of  the  actual  existence 
of  the  holy  Grail,  its  temple,  its  knights,  and  its  end- 
less beatitude."  Lohengrin's  declaration  of  love,  "  Elsa, 
ich  liebe   dich,"   "recalls  by  its   eloquent  brevity  the 


LISZT  ON  LOHENGRIN  557 

solemn  simplicity  of  the  ancient  tragedians,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  thrilling  moments  in  modern  dramatic  art." 
'''  Ortrud  seems  destined  to  be  placed  by  the  side  of  Lady 
Macbeth,  and  Margaret  of  Anjou,  as  Elsa  by  the  side  of 
Milton's  Eve  and  the  antique  Psyche."  The  more 
closely  we  examine  the  score,  the  more  we  are  astounded 
to  see  how  minutely  not  only  the  vocal  melodies  and 
accents  follow  the  poem,  but  how  the  orchestra  also 
throbs  in  sympathy  at  every  moment :  — 

"To  it  he  entrusts  the  function  of  revealing  to  us  the  soul,  the 
passions,  the  feelings,  even  the  most  transient  emotions  of  his 
characters.  His  orchestra  becomes  the  echo,  the  transparent  veil, 
through  which  we  note  all  their  heart-beats.  ...  In  it  we  hear 
the  angry  cry  of  hatred,  the  raving  of  revenge,  the  whisperings  of 
love,  the  ecstasy  of  adoration." 

Liszt  also  points  out  some  of  the  technical  means  with 
which  Wagner  produces  such  novel  and  delightful  orches- 
tral effects,  such  as  the  division  of  the  violins  into  sev- 
eral groups  playing  different  harmonic  parts  but  all  of 
the  same  tone-color;  and  the  use  of  three  flutes,  three 
oboes,  three  clarinets  (including  a  bass-clarinet),  three 
bassoons,  three  trombones,  and  a  tuba, 

"which  triple-system  has  this  advantage,  among  others,  that  the 
whole  chord  can  be  given  with  the  same  tone-color,  which  throws 
on  liis  instrumentation  bright  lights  and  shades  that  he  distributes 
with  excjuisite  art,  and  now  mixes,  now  brings  into  harmony,  with 
the  vocal  declamation  in  a  manner  which  is  as  novel  as  it  is  ex- 
pressive." 

Liszt's  essay  is  brimful  of  such  uper^us,  but  we  can 
quote  only  one  more :  — 

"  Wagner's  heart  is  devoured  by  the  noble  and  secret  wound  of 
art-fanaticLsm.  ...     He  felt  a  proud   contempt  for  traditional 


258  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

usage.  .  .  ,  He  has  solemnly  renounced  all  consideration  for  the 
customary  claims  of  the  prima  donna  assoluta  and  the  basso  can- 
tante.  In  his  eyes  there  are  no  singers,  but  only  roles.  Conse- 
quently he  finds  it  quite  natural  to  let  the  leading  singer  remain 
silent  during  a  whole  act,  and  simply  act,  if  her  presence  adds  to 
the  realism  and  probability  of  the  action  —  a  method  of  procedure 
scorned  by  every  Italian  diva  and  inexecutable  by  her." 

This  essay  Liszt  wrote  in  French,  in  which  language 
he  felt  more  at  ease  than  in  German,^  and  on  Sept.  25, 
1850,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Wagner  telling  him  that 
in  a  week  he  would  send  him  a  manuscript  which  he 
intended  to  print  in  a  Paris  journal  in  October;  adding 
that  he  was  anxious  to  have  it  appear  also  in  a  German 
version,  either  in  a  newspaper  or  as  a  pamphlet,  and  that 
he  would  be  delighted  if  Wagner  himself  would  under- 
take the  task  of  translating  it,  with  variations  and  cor- 
rections, in  order  that  he  himself  might  thus  feel  free 
from  all  responsibility  in  regard  to  translator's  errors, 
etc. 

Wagner's  reply  is  couched  in  terms  of  profuse  grati- 
tude for  his  friend's  generous  sacrifice  of  his  own  time 
and  work  in  order  to  aid  him.  Six  weeks,  however, 
elapsed  before  Liszt  received  a  copy  of  the  translation, 
and  the  reasons  for  this  delay  are  given  at  length  in  the 
fifty-second  letter :  — 

"  I  was  so  deeply  moved  by  your  essay,  that  I  became  immedi- 
ately convinced  of  one  thing ;  namely,  that  I  could  not  be  a  collab- 
orator in  a  thing  which  encouraged,  inspired,  and  moved  me  so 
profoundly.  It  made  me  feel  indelicate  and  embarrassed  to  think 
of  writing  down  with  my  own  hand  the  praise  which  you  dictated 
in  your  incomparably  brilliant  paper.     I  hesitated,  delayed,  and 

1  Some  of  his  letters  to  Wagner  were  also  written  in  French,  and  are 
printed  in  that  language  as  an  appendix  to  the  German  edition. 


ROBERT  FRANZ   ON  LOHENGRIN  259 

knew  not  what  to  do.  Finally  my  friend  Ritter  came  to  my  aid 
and  offered  to  make  the  translation :  I  agreed,  reserving  the  privi- 
lege of  revising  it,  less  with  an  eye  to  your  eulogies  than  to  the 
preservation  of  your  admirable  style." 

He  goes  on  to  add  that  all  tlie  critical  remarks  on  the 
work  and  its  author  were  translated  as  literally  as  possi- 
ble, and  with  the  greatest  effort  to  preserve  "  the  eloquent, 
novel,  and  highly  poetic  language  of  the  original,"  while 
in  the  explanatory  portions  and  the  quotations  from  the 
text  the  translation  was  made  more  freely  and  with 
additions.  Then  he  adds  the  follow^ing  significant  lines, 
doubly  underscored :  — 

"  Were  I  to  tell  you  what  my  feelings  were  on  carefully  perus- 
ing and  reperusing  this  essay,  I  could  hardly  find  terms  to  express 
myself.  Let  this  suffice  :  I  feel  more  than  fully  rewarded  for  my 
trials,  my  sacrifices,  and  artistic  struggles,  on  noting  the  impression 
I  have  made  on  you  in  particular.  To  be  thus  completely  under- 
stood was  my  only  ambition  ;  and  to  have  been  understood  is  the 
most  ravishing  gratification  of  my  longing," 

ROBERT   FRANZ   ON   LOHENGRIN 

Liszt  was  not  the  only  man  of  genius  who  recognized 
Lohengrin  as  a  masterwork,  a  decade  or  tw^o  before  the 
critics.  Among  the  eminent  musicians  who  were  invited 
by  Liszt,  or  came  of  their  own  accord  to  hear  Wagner's 
operas  at  Weimar,  was  one  of  the  great  trio  of  German 
song-composers,  Robert  Franz,  who  was  then  only  in  his 
thirty-seventh  year,  but  who  w^as  destined  to  bring  the 
German  Lied  to  its  highest  perfection  along  the  lines 
marked  out  by  Schubert  and  Schumann.  Franz  heard 
Lohengrin  as  interpreted  by  Liszt,  and  was  moved  thereby 
to  write  a  private  letter  which  w^as  subsequently  printed 


260  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

in  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  far  Musik  (1852).  It  is  too  long 
to  be  translated  entire,  but  the  following  extracts  will 
give  an  idea  of  its  sentiments. 

Before  going  to  Weimar,  Franz  writes,  he  had  known 
Wagner's  writings  only  through  the  Tannhauser  score, 
which,  detached  from  the  action  and  other  stage  acces- 
sories, had  not  made  a  specially  favorable  impression  on 
him :  — 

"  Consequently  I  shared  the  aversion  which  almost  all  my  musi- 
cal colleagues  felt  toward  the  twofold  rebel,  and  fancied  that  I  was 
rendering  full  justice  to  my  conscience  if  on  the  mention  of  Wag- 
ner's name  I  made  the  sign  of  a  cross,  contorted  my  features,  and 
thought  by  myself,  like  the  Pharisees,  'Lord,  I  thank  thee,'  etc." 

He  then  relates,  how,  being  as  fond  of  poetry  as  of 
music,  he  had  been  hostile  on  principle  to  everything 
that  had  borne  the  name  of  opera :  — 

"  I  could  find  no  unity  in  it.  .  .  .  Not  only  Meyerbeer  and 
Flotow  were  the  objects  of  my  aversion,  but  my  heresy  extended 
to  Mozart  (N.B.  on  the  stage)  as  well  as  to  the  others.  .  .  .  The 
opera  mars  the  poetry,  and  by  its  dialogue  and  other  pretty  things 
mangles  the  music." 

But  Lohengrin  changed  all  his  views  in  a  moment :  — 

"  From  the  first  bar  on  I  was  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  soon  found 
myself  in  such  complete  sympathy  with  what  was  going  on  on  the 
stage  and  in  the  orchestra  that  I  actually  felt  during  the  whole  per- 
formance as  if  I  was  singing  and  playing  along." 

Mozart's  operatic  music,  he  continues,  ''unfolds  its 
full  significance  to  me  only  in  the  concert  hall."  Not  so 
with  Wagner :  — 

' '  In  my  prejudice  against  all  things  operatic  I  had  not  consid- 
ered it  possible  that  music  could  to  such  a  degree  be  moulded  and 
subordinated  to  the  action  without  losing  its  independence." 


BOBERT  FRANZ   ON  LOHENGBIN  261 

-Of  the  orchestra,  Franz  says  that  it  is 

"a  real  fairy  world,  a  true  rainbow  of  tone-colors.  Unheard-of 
combinations  of  sounds  there  are,  but  always  of  a  beauty  incom- 
parable. The  whole  introduction  to  Lohengrin  is  a  Feerie,  and 
even  with  the  critical  spectacles  on  the  nose  one  cannot  escape  a 
state  of  ecstatic  gratification." 

Concerning  the  vocal  style  of  Lohengrin,  which  to-day 
seems  so  simple  and  melodious,  Franz  says:  "It  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  the  singers  can  memorize  melodic 
phrases  like  these,  apparently  written  so  much  against 
the  grain  [widerhaarig'] ;  and  yet  they  assert  that  every 
note,  once  fixed  in  the  memory,  remains  as  if  chiselled 
into  the  head."  He  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  Wagner's 
constant  violation  of  traditional  rules  and  forms:  "yet, 
despite  these  abnormalities  and  monstrosities,  he  always 
hits  the  nail  on  the  head,  and  gives  us  such  music  as  was 
absolutely  called  for  by  the  situation"  —  which  reminds 
one  of  Beethoven's  remarks  on  Weber's  Freischutz,  quoted 
in  a  previous  chapter.  Summing  up  his  impressions, 
Franz  concludes :  — 

"  Whether  it  was  the  charnf  of  the  unheard,  absolutely  new,  or 
something  else,  I  cannot  tell ;  I  only  know  that  very  few  musical 
works  have  ever  so  completely  overwhelmed  me,  made  such  a 
'  demonic  '  impression  on  me,  as  Lohengrin.  Wagner,  thanks  to 
his  double  endowment,  is  the  only  man  who  could  write  an  opera 
which  is  a  work  of  art  in  its  fundamental  conception." 

In  this  last  sentence  Robert  Franz  states  implicitly 
what  editor  Brendel  of  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Mnsik 
did  not  hesitate  to  utter  explicitly  —  that  the  operas  of 
Mozart,  Weber,  and  Beethoven  are  inferior  to  Wagner's. 
To-day  it  seems  funny  tliat   any  one  could  have  ovci- 


262  LOHENGRIN  AT  WEIMAR 

doubted  this,  after  hearing  Lohengrin  and  Tannhduser; 
but  in  1853  it  called  for  great  courage  on  Brendel's  part 
to  give  public  expression  to  such  an  opinion  —  courage 
which  Liszt  alone  shared. 

Wagner  had  not  met  Franz  at  this  time,  but  subse- 
quently the  two  became  good  friends.  Frequent  men- 
tion is  made  of  Franz  in  Wagner's  letters,  and  there  was 
also  some  personal  correspondence  between  the  two. 
When  the  score  of  Lohengrin  was  printed  by  Hartels, 
Wagner  wrote  to  Uhlig  that  he  was  to  receive  one  of  the 
three  presentation  copies  which  he  had  reserved  j  add- 
ing:— 

' '  A  second  I  think  of  presenting  to  Robert  Franz,  and  will  send 
it  to  you  to  see  that  he  gets  it.  I  have  really  been  intending  for  a 
long  time  to  write  to  Franz.  Heaven  knows  how  one  always  puts 
off  a  thing  of  the  sort,  however  agreeable  it  may  be.  Kind  greet- 
ings to  him,  and  assure  him  that  I  place  great  value  on  the  fact  that 
he  —  next  to  you  and  Liszt  —  was  the  first  musician  who  showed 
me  any  friendship."  ^ 

On  Nov.  10,  1852,  he  writes :  — 

"Franz  has  sent  me  his  Lieder ;  as  yet  I  have  not  looked  at 
them,  but  I  am  promising  myself  great  pleasure  when  I  do.  Please 
give  him  best  greetings  from  me  when  you  write." 

And  five  years  later  (Oct.  29,  1857) :  — 

"  I  have  had  German  visitors.  Ed.  Devrient,  Prager,  and  Rockel 
(from  England),  Robert  Franz,  etc.,  were  this  summer  with  me  for 
a  longer  or  shorter  period,  and  we  had  a  lot  of  music,  —  Bheingold, 
Walkilre^  and  the  two  finished  acts  of  Yoting  Siegfried.''^ 

At  this  period  Wagner  had  learned  to  esteem  Franz's 
songs  so  highly  that  they  formed,  with  Bach's  music,  his 

1  He  forgets  Spohr  and  Meyerbeer,  but  of  course  effusions  of  this  sort 
are  not  to  be  taken  too  literally. 


FURTHER   COMMENTS  263 

daily  food.  That  there  was  a  natural  artistic  affinity 
between  these  two  composers  need  hardly  be  pointed 
out:  so  far  as  the  difference  between  lyric-song  and 
music-drama  permitted,  Franz  did  for  the  vocal  style  of 
the  Lied  what  Wagner  did  for  the  dramatic  opera,  by 
making  the  vocal  melody  coalesce  with  the  poetry  as  the 
color  of  a  rose  does  with  its  form. 

FURTHER  COMMENTS 

In  a  preceding  chapter  brief  reference  was  made  to 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  poem  and  music  of 
Lohengrin  were  created.  In  writing  the  poem  he  took 
even  greater  pains  than  in  TannJiduser  to  preserve  the 
local  color  of  the  historico-mythic  subject  as  regards  the 
scenic  background  and  the  poetic  style.  With  the  legend 
of  Lohengrin  he  had  become  familiar  as  early  as  1842, 
in  Paris,  in  connection  with  the  Tannhauser  subject; 
but  the  form  of  the  legend  as  presented  by  an  old  Bava- 
rian poet  did  not  specially  interest  him  at  that  time, 
and  it  was  not  till  some  years  later,  when  he  became 
familiar  with  the  original  and  simpler  form  of  the 
legend,  that  it  aroused  his  musical  imagination. 

Like  Shakespeare,  and  the  great  dramatists  of  Greece, 
he  obtained  the  materials  of  his  drama  from  various 
sources,^  but  welded  tliem  together  and  concentrated  the 
action  with  an  ingenuity  which  betrayed  the  born  drama- 
tist. A  French  critic,  Anatole  France,  commends  Wag- 
ner   for    freeing   the    old    Lohengrin    legend    from    its 

1  Those  who  are  curious  as  regards  the  known  and  possible  sources 
of  Wiif^ner's  j)oem  may  consult  Muiicker's  hricf  Wagner  biography,  or, 
for  a  more  detailed  acrcouut,  an  article  l)y  tlie  same  author  iu  the  Mu 
nich  Allyemeine  Zcituny  (supplement)  for  May  30,  1891. 


2G4  LOHENGRIN  AT    WEIMAR 

unsympathetic  Gothic  form,  and  presenting  it  in  a 
modern  spirit.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  essence  of  the 
legend  —  the  story  of  a  bride  who  is  punished  for  her 
curiosity  in  violation  of  a  promise  —  is  as  old  as  litera- 
ture, having  its  prototype  in  the  tale  of  Cupid  and 
Psyche,  Jupiter  and  Semele,  Pururavas  and  Urvasi  in 
the  Rig-Veda.^  Those  who  like  to  exercise  their  fancy 
by  giving  stories  an  allegoric  and  biographic  significance, 
may  find  food  for  thought  by  looking  on  Lohengrin  as 
representing  Genius.  He  seeks  a  wife  who  will  believe 
in  him,  love  him  as  a  man,  not  as  a  god,  i.e.  a  creative 
artist;  and  understand  him  through  this  love:  but  his 
higher  nature  does  not  escape  detection;  envy,  doubt, 
and  jealousy  poison  the  heart  of  even  that  woman  for 
whose  succor  he  left  his  retreat.  He  finds  he  has  only 
been  worshipped,  not  loved  and  understood,  and  sorrow- 
fully returns  to  his  solitude.^ 

The  admirers  of  Wagner,  following  his  example,  are 
much  given  to  deriving  his  musical  descent  directly  from 
Beethoven.  His  extraordinary  admiration  of  Beethoven, 
which  amounted  almost  to  fanaticism,^  might  easily  lead 
to  the  inference  that  he  regarded  himself  as  Beethoven's 
successor.  But,  apart  from  the  suggestive  use  of  poetry 
to  assist  instrumental  music,  in  the  Ninth  Symphony, 
the  composer  in  whom  Wagner's  music  really  has  its 
roots  is  not  Beethoven,  but  Weber.  Weber  was  his  first 
love,  and  to  Weber  he  returned.  He  himself  remarks  in 
his  essay  on  Zukunflsmusik  (1860)  :  — 

1  See  Mr.  Andrew  Lang's  article  on  Mythology,  in  Encyclopxdia 
Britannica,  p.  158. 

2  This  is  Wagner's  own  version  (IV.  362). 

3  The  index  of  Glasenapp's  War/ner  Encyclopsedie  has  thirteen  col- 
umns of  references  to  Beethoven  found  in  Wagner's  literary  writings  I 


FURTHER   COMMENTS  265 

♦'  Should  the  satisfaction  be  granted  me  of  seeing  my  Tajmhiiu- 
ser  well  received  bj-  the  Paris  public  too,  I  feel  certain  that  I  should 
owe  this  success  in  a  large  measure  to  the  still  very  noticeable  con- 
nection of  this  opera  with  those  of  my  predecessors,  among  whom 
I  call  your  attention  especially  to  Weber." 

Even  more  than  Tannhduser,  Lohengrin  recalls  the 
influence  of  Weber,  in  this  case  particularly  EuryantJie, 
which  in  many  ways  Wagner  seems  to  have  taken  as  his 
model.  Pohl  and  other  writers  have  dwelt  on  the  paral- 
lel between  Euryanthe  and  Elsa,  Eglantine  and  Ortrud, 
Lysiart  and  Telramund,  in  both  their  poetic  and  musical 
characterization.  But  Wagner's  poem  is  of  course  infi- 
nitely superior  to  that  of  Weber's  librettist,  and  if  the 
difference  in  the  music  is  much  less  great,  the  advantage 
is  nevertheless  on  Wagner's  side;  and  we  can  realize 
here,  especially,  the  truth  of  Cornelius's  remark,  that 
"Weber  died  of  the  longing  to  become  Wagner."  On 
reading  Weber's  biography,  we  become  convinced  that 
he  would  have  done  almost  what  even  the  later  Wagner 
did,  had  he  had  the  daring,  the  energy,  and  the  iron  will 
of  that  reformer.  But  his  life  was  too  short,  and  his 
health  too  poor,  to  allow  him  to  take  up  such  a  struggle ; 
and  so,  contrary  to  his  convictions,  he  had  his  "gallery," 
as  he  called  his  wife,  whose  duty  was  to  warn  him  when 
lie  was  in  danger  of  forgetting  the  "  public  "  while  fol- 
lowing his  own  ideal  of  a  music-drama.  That  this  ideal 
was  the  same  as  Wagner's  in  the  most  essential  point  is 
proved  by  these  words  of  Weber's :  — 

^^  Euryanthe  is  a  purely  dramatic  work,  which  depends  for  its 
success  solely  on  the  co-operation  of  the  united  sister-arts,  and  is 
certain  to  lose  its  effect  if  deprived  of  their  assistance." 

How  far  Weber  succeeded  in  reaching  this  ideal  is  a 


266  LOHENGRIN  AT    WEIMAR 

question  which  Wagner  repeatedly  discussed  at  consid- 
erable length.^  To  note  only  two  interesting  points. 
He  admits  tliat  in  the  last  scenes  of  EuryantJie  "  we  are 
indebted  to  this  delightful  tone-poet  for  a  complete 
realization  of  the  ideal  dramatic  art,"  because  here  the 
orchestra  does  not  simply  accompany  the  dialogue,  but 
"  interpenetrates  the  recitatives  as  the  blood  does  the 
veins  of  the  body,"  and  constantly  keeps  alive  our  inter- 
est by  its  use  of  characteristic  motives  appropriate  to  the 
situation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  chorus  is  not  properly 
treated  by  Weber :  — 

^^In  Euryanthe  the  dialogue  of  the  actors  is  repeatedly  inter- 
rupted and  retarded  by  the  song  of  the  chorus,  and  unfortunately 
it  sings  here  independently,  after  the  manner  of  four-part  male 
choruses,  without  the  vitalizing  accompaniment  of  a  characterizing, 
animated  orchestra,  just  as  if  the  composer  had  intended  these 
choruses  to  be  available  also  as  detached  pieces  for  the  programmes 
of  the  vocal  societies." 

In  Lohengrin,  on  the  other  hand,  the  choruses  are  an 
organic,  inseparable  part  of  the  score.  In  Wagner's 
operas  the  function  of  the  Greek  chorus  of  commenting 
on  the  action  is  assigned  to  the  orchestra,  which,  through 
the  use  of  Leading  Motives,  has  received  the  faculty  of 
definite  speech;  the  chorus  thus  wins  the  freedom  of 
taking  part  in  the  dramatic  action.  There  is  nothing 
more  effective  in  Lohengrin  (when  properly  done,  which 
is  not  often  the  case)  than  the  actions  and  the  short 
exclamations  of  the  chorus  on  the  arrival  of  the  swan, 
or  on  the  appearance  of  Elsa.  It  miglit  be  argued,  and 
justly,  that  the  final  choruses  of  the  first  two  acts  prove 
very  effective  in  the  concert  hall  too;  but  this  does  not 

1  See  III.  358-361 ;  IX.  57,  251 ;  X.  216-220,  etc. 


FURTHER   COMMENTS  267 

make  them  any  the  less  perfect  on  the  stage,  provided 
they  are  a  natural  outgro^\i;h  of  the  dramatic  situation 
and  appropriate  to  it,  as  they  unquestionably  are.  From 
a  purely  musical  point  of  view  there  are  no  grander 
choruses  in  existence  than  these,  unless  it  be  the  conclud- 
ing one  in  Bach's  Passion  Music  or  in  the  Meistersincjer. 
Even  the  popular  bridal  chorus  (which  is  now  so  often 
used  as  a  wedding  march),  although  it  is  the  weakest 
thing  in  Lohengrin,  is  not  really  inconsistent  with  the 
spirit  of  a  music-drama;  for  the  melody  beautifully  fits 
the  words,  and  the  chorus  is  not  an  interloper,  but  grows 
naturally  out  of  the  situation. 

Wagner  was  fond  of  comparing  poetry  to  a  husband 
and  musicrEo^aTwife,  and  he  did  not  believe  in  "women's 
rights,"  his  theory  being  that,  in  the  music-drama  at  any 
rate,  the  masculine  poetry  should  be  "boss,"  and  not  the 
feminine  music.  In  the  individual  roles  this  principle 
is  still  more  consistently  carried  out  than  in  the  choruses ; 
how  consistently  is  shown  most  graphically  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  a  letter  to  Liszt  (Xov.  16,  1853), 
whence  the  reader  will  see  clearly  what  is  meant  by  say- 
ing that  in  Lohengrin  "  continuous  melody "  takes  the 
place  of  the  detached  "  numbers  "  of  the  old-fashioned 
opera,  which  were  complete  in  themselves  and  could  be 
taken  out  without  alteration,  while  in  Lohengrin  the 
melody  flows  on  without  interruption  or  artiticial  close 
till  the  end  of  each  act.  To  make  Lohengrin  more  profit- 
able from  a  publisher's  point  of  view,  Wagner  had  agreed 
to  bring  out  a  collection  of  single  pieces  from  it  for  song 
and  for  piano :  — 

"  We  know  that  the  so-called  morceanx  detaches  really  form  the 
chief  source  of  profit  in  the  issue  of  operas :  but  such  pieces  it  is 


268  LOHENGEIN  AT   WEIMAR 

impossible  to  publish  from  Lohengrin  on  account  of  the  peculiar 
circumstance  tliat  there  are  in  this  opera  no  single  vocal  pieces  that 
can  be  detached  just  as  they  are.  Only  /  myself,  the  composer, 
could  undertake  to  detach  a  few  of  the  most  suitable  vocal  pieces 
from  the  score,  completing  them  by  recasting  and  rearranging,  by 
adding  a  beginning  and  a  close,  etc.  Nine  of  these  pieces,  short, 
easy,  and  even  popular,  I  sent  you  some  time  ago  with  the  request 
to  forward  them  to  Hartel  after  receiving  word  from  me:  they 
may  appear  as  arranged  by  me." 

Besides  the  continuous  melody  which,  like  a  model 
wife,  scorns  to  be  "  independent,"  but  is  inseparable  from 
the  "  masculine  "  words,  there  is  another  respect  in  which 
we  find  Wagner's  genius  already  at  its  best  in  Lohengrin; 
namely,  in  the  marvellous  homogeneity  of  coloring  and 
general  musical  phraseology,  which  gives  a  unity  to  the 
whole  opera  and  makes  it  an  organic  work  of  art.  Play 
a  dozen  bars  from  Lohengrin,  and  any  musical  expert  will 
tell  you  which  of  his  operas  it  is  from,  even  if  he  should 
not  distinctly  remember  that  particular  phrase.  The 
same  could  not  be  said  of  Mozart's  Don  Juan  and  Figaro, 
or  two  operas  by  any  other  composer;  and  herein  lies 
one  of  the  most  profound  evidences  of  Wagner's  supreme 
dramatic  genius. 

Why,  then,  if  Lohengrin  is  such  a  genuine  work  of 
art,  should  it  be  classed  with  the  "operas"  of  Wag- 
ner's second  period,  instead  of  with  the  mature  music- 
dramas  ? 

Chiefly  because,  although  the  characteristic  themes 
called  Leading  Motives  are  already  used  to  a  consider- 
able extent  in  this  opera,  they  do  not  yet  make  up  the 
entire  web  of  the  score,  as  in  the  dramas  that  followed. 
The  King,  Elsa,  Lohengrin,  the  Grail,  and  the  swan, 
Ortrud,  etc.,  have  their  musical  correlatives  or  Doppel- 


FURTHER   COMMENTS  269 

■  ' 

ganger  in  the  score  ■which  recur  again  and  again  witli 
deep  dramatic  significance  (especially  in  the  second  act) : 
but  besides  those  there  are  also  melodies  that  occur  only 
once  and  have  no  typical  dramatic  meaning.  One  of  the 
most  exquisite  of  these  is  the  eight  bars  which  the 
orchestra  plays  in  the  bridal  chamber  while  the  King 
embraces  the  newly  married  couple  and  gives  them  his 
blessing.^ 

As  distinguished  from  the  typical  or  leading  motives 
such  passages  might  be  called  incidental  or  passing 
melodies,  and  there  are  many  of  them  in  this  opera. 
The  wealth  of  musical  ideas  in  Lohengrin  is,  indeed, 
positively  astounding,  and  makes  one  stand  amazed  at 
the  lavish  exuberance  of  the  composer's  imagination,  as 
no  other  stage-work  ever  written  except  Die  Meistersinger 
does.  The  second  act  alone  has  musical  ideas  enough  to 
furnish  forth  a  dozen  ordinary  operas  of  German,  Italian, 
or  French  manufacture. 

That^ihis  second  act  was  the  last  to  be  appreciated  by 
the  public  has  its  good  reason  in  the  fact  that  it  was 
composed"4ast  of  all,  and  marks  the  transition  to  Wag- 
ner's^" third  style,"  which  begins  with  Rheingold.  What 
especially  distressed  the  old-fashioned  opera-goers,  who 
were  accustomed  to  expect  nothing  but  "sweet"  music 
and  "  pretty "  tunes  in  their  operas,  was  the  free  use 
which  Wagner  made  here  of  sombre  colors  and  of  dis- 
cords, to   express   the   emotion   of   hate.     But  here,  as 

1  This  beautiful  passage  is  usually  marred  by  bein^  taken  too  fast, 
at  niarcli  pace.  Wagner  knew  what  a  good  thing  it  was,  and  wrote  to 
Liszt  in  IH.').'}  that  he  had  forgotten  to  note  down  a  tempo  mark  in  the 
score:  "  Here  the  tempo  must  become  considerably  alower  still  than  at 
the  first  entrance  of  the  D  major;  the  passage  must  make  a  very  cor- 
dial, solemn  impression,  or  else  the  intention  is  lost." 


270  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAB 

usual,  the  very  thing  was  found  fault  with  which  indi- 
cates the  greatest  progress  and  perfection.  li_is_iiot  only 
the  prerogative  but  the  duty  of  dramatic  music  to  express 
all  the  emotions  of  the  soul,  those  of  hatred  as  well  as 
th_ose  of  love.  In  the  second  act  of  Lohengrin,  the  tragic 
elements  of  a  drama  are  musically  illustrated  and  intensi- 
fied as  never  before  on  the  musical  stage;  and  these 
scenes  more  than  foreshadow  the  dramatic  perfection 
reached  in  Siegfried  and  Tristan.  With  an  incompetent 
Ortrud  and  Telramund  this  episode  is  indeed  dreary; 
but  that  is  not  Wagner's  fault.  When  the  vocalists 
are  actors  too,  and  can  express  hatred  as  well  as  love 
by  their  singing,  then  this  part  of  the  opera  arouses 
more  enthusiasm  than  any  other,  as  I  have  often  wit- 
nessed. 

The  composer  Felix  Draeseke  has  well  described^  how 
Wagner  uses  the  orchestra  to  help  in  characterizing  and 
individualizing  his  dramatis  personcB :  — 

"Just  as  he  makes  use  of  special  melodies  to  sketch  the  princi- 
pal persons,  so  he  also  has  attempted  to  secure  the  same  end  by 
means  of  the  various  clang-tints.  Accordingly  he  uses  —  although, 
of  course,  not  exclusively  —  the  brass  chiefly  to  accompany  the 
King  and  the  martial  choruses ;  the  high  wood-wind  to  paint  Elsa  ; 
the  English  horn  and  bass-clarinet  to  sketch  Ortrud ;  the  violins 
(especially  in  high  '  harmonic '  positions)  to  indicate  the  Grail  and 
its  representative  knight.  Yes,  even  the  choice  of  keys  appears  to 
have  been  made  with  artistic  deliberation.  Or  is  it  unintentional 
that  Ortrud's  appearance  is  almost  always  indicated  musically  in 
the  key  of  F-sharp  minor  ?  is  it  unintentional  that  the  four  buglers 
always  blow  in  C-major,  and  also  greet  the  King's  arrival  always 
in  C  ?  Is  it  accidental  that  the  key  of  A,  which  is  the  purest  for 
strings  and  the  most  magic  in  effect  on  account  of  the  greater  ease 

^  Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik,  April  4,  1856. 


PROGRESS  OF  LOHENGRIN  271 

of  producing  '  harmonic '  tones,  always  annoiuices  the  approach  of 
Lohengrin  and  the  Grail's  intervention  in  the  action  ?  "  ^ 

The  original  and  unconventional  character  of  Wagner's 
instrumentation  is  illustrated  by  these  remarks  from  the 
pen  of  L.  C.  Elson  concerning  the  prelude  to  Lohengrin : — 

"  Wagner  alone,  of  all  the  great  masters,  does  not  use  the  harp 
for  celestial  tone-coloring,  but  violins  and  wood-wind  in  prolonged 
niites,  in  the  highest  positions.  Schumann,  Berlioz,  Saint^Saens, 
in  fact  all  the  modern  tone-colorists  who  have  given  celestial 
pictures,  use  the  harp  in  them,  purelj'  because  of  the  association 
of  ideas  which  comes  to  us  from  the  Scriptures,  and  this  very- 
association  of  the  harp  with  heaven  and  the  angels  only  came 
about  because  the  instrument  was  the  most  developed  possessed 
by  man  at  the  time  that  the  sacred  book  was  written.  Wagner's 
tone-coloring  is  intrinsically  the  more  ecstatic,  and  one  cannot  but 
agree  with  the  sarcasm  of  Theophile  Gautier,  that  a  '  harp  concert 
lasting  ten  thousand  years  nmst  end  by  becoming  tiresome.'  Wag- 
ner is  the  first  who  has  broken  through  this  harp  conventionality." 

PKOGRESS   OF   LOHENGRIN 

About  two  months  after  the  first  performance  of  Lohen- 
grin Wagner  wrote  to  Uhlig,  after  mentioning  the  Lohen- 
grin essay :  — 

"  I  am  deeply  touched  by  Liszt's  untiring  efforts  to  fan  the 
flame  of  my  fame  with  diabolic  persistence.  My  Weimar  friends 
imagine  they  can  pave  my  way  to  the  public  at  large  by  their 
wise  measures :  three  performances  of  Lohengrin  have  now  been 
given,  and  the  result  leads  the  local  manager  triumphantly  to 
express  the  conviction  that  this  opera  is  assured  the  same  popu- 
larity in  Weimar  that  Tannhixuser  has  won.  So  they  all  believe 
tliat  nothing  is  needed  except  a  few  trifling  concessions  on  my 

1  Compare  with  this  Wagner's  own  extremely  interesting  remarks  on 
tlie  sequence  of  keys  in  the  vocal  contest  in  Tannhduser  (Liszt  Letters, 
Iso.  lb). 


272  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

part,  and  zealous  efforts  on  their  part,  to  soon  place  the  whole 
German  operatic  public  at  my  disposition.  I  suppose  I  must 
appear  crazy  to  them  if,  in  answer  to  these  messages,  I  persist  in 
stubbornly  maintaining  that  they  are  mistaken,  and  that  such  a 
thing  is  impossible." 

Liszt  had  written  him,  after  the  second  repetition,  that 
Lohengrin  was  being  more  and  more  appreciated  and 
understood,  and  that  it  was  a  work  which  woukl  "  con- 
fer more  honor  on  an  audience  that  showed  itself  capable 
of  understanding  and  enjoying  it,  than  the  audience  could 
confer  on  it,  by  aj)plauding  and  making  it  a  popular 
success."  In  May,  1851,  the  opera  had  reached  its  fifth 
performance,  and  Liszt  wrote :  — 

"  The  house  was  filled,  largely,  it  is  true,  by  visitors  brought  by 
curiosity  from  Erfurt,  Naumburg,  and  other  neighboring  towns ; 
for,  to  be  frank,  the  Weimar  people,  with  the  exception  of  about 
two  dozen,  are  not  so  advanced  yet  as  to  be  able  to  take  a  decisive 
interest  in  so  extraordinary  a  work." 

This  custom  of  making  a  musical  pilgrimage  to  Weimar 
for  the  sake  of  hearing  Wagner's  operas,  came  more  and 
more  into  vogue,  so  that  the  Grand-Ducal  town  became 
a  sort  of  preliminary  Bayreuth  for  the  Dutchman,  Tann- 
hduser,  and  Lohengrin.  Special  opera-trains  were  occa- 
sionally run,  and  in  January,  1853,  Liszt  wrote  to  assure 
his  friend  that  the  public  interest  in  Lohengrin  was 
increasing  rapidly,  and  "you  are  already  very  popular 
at  the  various  Weimar  hotels,  where  it  is  not  easy  to  get 
a  room  on  the  days  when  your  operas  are  given."  And 
again,  a  year  later:  "  Tannhduser,  as  usual,  drew  a  full 
house,  and  when  Lohengrin  was  performed,  many  stran- 
gers who  arrived  in  the  afternoon  could  get  no  more 
tickets." 


PEOGEESS   OF  LOHENGBIN  278 

Wagner  himself  has  best  summed  up  the  importance 
of  Liszt's  activity  in  Weimar,  as  conductor  and  essayist, 
in  two  letters  to  him  (Xos.  52,  67),  from  which  I  must 
cite  the  following  passages :  — 

"  Truly,  my  friend,  you  have  made  of  this  small  "Weimar  a  real 
furnace  of  fame  for  me  ;  when  I  look  at  the  numerous  detailed  and 
often  very  clever  articles  on  Lohengrin  which  now  come  from 
Weimar,  and  recall,  in  comparison,  the  envious  hostility  with  which, 
e.g.,  the  Dresden  critics  fell  on  me,  and  with  what  melancholy  perse- 
verance they  labored  as  if  to  create  a  systematic  confusion  regard- 
ing me  in  the  public  mind,  Weimar  appears  to  me  as  a  blessed 
asylum  in  which  at  last  I  can  breathe  freely  and  relieve  my  op- 
pressed heart." 

"  What  you,  but  you  alone,  have  succeeded  in  doing  for  me  at 
Weimar  so  far  is  astounding,  and  has  contributed  still  more  to 
my  success  ;  without  you  I  icoidd  now  be  completely  forgotten  ; 
instead  of  which  I  have  been  brought  to  the  public  notice  of  art- 
friends  by  all  the  means  which  are  at  your  disposal  only,  and  which 
you  have  utilized  with  an  energy  and  a  success  that  alone  make  it 
possible  for  me  even  to  think  of  carrying  out  such  plans  as  I  have 
just  told  you  about  \_Tlie  Xibeluru/s  Ring'].  This  plan  is  perfectly 
clear  in  my  mind,  and  I  declare  you  without  hesitation  the  creator 
of  my  present  position,  which  is  perhaps  not  unpromising  as  re- 
gards the  future." 

When,  in  1852,  the  score  of  Lohengrin  appeared  in 
print,  Wagner  immortalized  his  gratitude  to  Liszt  in 
this  cordial  dedication :  — 

"  It  was  you  who  awakened  the  mute  notes  of  this  score  to  the 
living  world  of  sounds  ;  without  your  rare  devotion,  my  work 
would  still  sleep  silently  —  forgotten  perhaps  even  by  myself  —  in 
some  drawer  among  my  furniture  ;  no  ear  would  have  heard  that 
which  moved  my  heart  and  ravished  my  imagination  when,  always 
dreaming  of  a  vivid  execution,  I  composed  this  work  five  years  ago. 
May  it  now  resound  and  be  heard  in  the  world  at  large.  That  will 
be  one  consolation  for  me  —  for  me  who  probably  will  never  hear 
il." 


274  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

Liszt  had  done  his  work  and  done  it  well.  But  it  will 
always  remain  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  facts  in  the 
history  of  music  that,  notAvithstanding  his  Herculean 
labors,  musical  and  literary,  uo^  other  opera-house  touched 
Lohengrin  till  three  years  after  its  first  j)erformance 
at  Weimar.  While  Meyerbeer's  ProjiMte  was  exciting 
unbounded  enthusiasm  all  over  Germany,  not  one  of 
Wagner's  four  operas  was  performed  during  1850  and 
1851,  except  at  Weimar !  Wiesbaden  and  Dresden  took 
up  Tannhduser  in  1852,  and  in  Dresden,  also,  this  opera 
was  resumed  on  Oct.  26,  while  in  the  following  year  no 
fewer  than  twenty-six  other  German  cities^  produced  it; 
but  Lohengrin  had  to  wait  till  July  2, 1853,  before  Wies- 
baden honored  itself  by  being  the  first  city  after  Weimar 
to  bring  out  this  magnificent  work. 

The  next  year  Leipzig,  Schwerin,  Frankfurt,  Darm- 
stadt, Breslau,  and  Stettin  followed  the  lead  of  Weimar 
and  Wiesbaden,  and  in  1855,  eight  more  cities  —  Co- 
logne, Hamburg,  Riga,  Prague,  Augsburg,  Bonn,  Diis- 
seldorff,  and  Hanover  —  were  added  to  the  list;  while, 
strange  to  say,  some  of  the  leading  opera-houses  waited 
longest  before  they  oj)ened  their  portals  to  Lohengrin  — 
Munich  and  Vienna  till  1858,  Berlin  till  1859,  and  Stutt- 
gart even  till  1869.  That  Berlin  quarantined  Wagner's 
opera  nine  years  is  strange,  but  not  so  strange  as  the  fact 
that  the  same  city  (and  the  same  Litendant)  repeated  the 
same  farce  with  the  Nibelung  Tetralogy  after  1876. 
That  Leipzig  was  one  of  the  first  to  produce  Lohengrin 
was  an  unfortunate  circumstance,  owing  to  the  poor 
equipment  of  the  opera-house  at  that  time,  and  the 
Mendelssohnian  atmosphere,  which  was  hostile  to  Wag- 

1  See  the  list  in  Glasenapp,  I.  347. 


PBOGBESS   OF  LOHENGRIN  275 

nerian  interests.  The  conductor,  Julins  Rietz,  was  a 
personal  friend  of  Mendelssohn,  and  had  no  sympathy 
with  "Wagner.  Nor  did  Wagner  have  any  confidence  in 
liini,  but  insisted  that  Liszt  should  supervise  the  produc- 
tion of  his  opera.  In  a  letter  to  Heine,  dated  Jan.  19, 
1S.")4,  he  says:  — 

"  I  only  consented  to  the  performance  in  Leipzig  on  condition 
that  Liszt  should  represent  me,  if  not  as  conductor,  still  as  super- 
intendent of  the  whole  production  ;  and  he  was  to  have  the  right 
to  stop  it  if  he  saw  there  was  no  reasonable  expectation  of  a  favor- 
able residt.  Now  first  do  I  learn  that  R.  quite  set  up  his  back 
against  this,  and  that  the  whole  thing  would  long  ago  have  come  to 
a  rupture  had  it  not  been  that  tlie  Hjirtcls  [publishers  of  the  score] 
effected  a  prudent  compromise  through  Liszt's  complaisance, 
whereby  the  latter  was  only  to  drop  in  at  the  last  rehearsal,  and 
perhaps  give  a  few  friendly'  hints  to  R.  Now  it  appears  that  Liszt 
did  not  even  receive  notice  of  the  date  of  these  rehearsals,  and  he 
has  had  the  somewhat  too  diplomatic  weakness  of  leaving  the  affair 
to  take  its  own  course,  for  good  or  bad.  But  that  was  certainly 
not  my  intention,  and  so  the  performance  has  taken  place  entirely 
against  my  will.     I  shall  take  other  precautions  for  the  future." 

The  result  of  this  performance  was  what  might  have 
been  anticipated.  It  was  such  a  wretched  affair  that 
Wagner  could  justly  refer  to  it  (in  the  same  letter)  as 
"the  latest  Leipzig  outrage  on  my  Lohengrin."  Liszt 
wrote  him  a  full  account  of  it  (No.  143  of  the  Corre- 
spondence), from  which  it  appears  that  the  performance 
actually  broke  down  in  several  places;  and  although  he 
adds  once  more  "  your  Lohengrin  is  the  most  magnificent 
work  of  art  the  world  at  present  possesses,"  this  could 
liardly  console  Wagner  for  the  fiasco  of  his  favorite  opera 
in  one  of  the  leading  German  cities.  A  good  share  of 
this  failure  was  of  course  due  to  the  "  big  head  "  of  Con- 


276  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

ductor  Eietz,  who  fancied  he  knew  more  about  bringing 
out  the  new  opera  than  Wagner  himself  or  his  alter  ego 
Liszt.  Wagner  ran  against  many  such  "  big  heads  "  in 
his  career,  and  these  pleasant  experiences  account  for  his 
frequent  severe  or  sarcastic  references  to  Kapellmeisters 
and  Kapellmeister musik.  The  critics,  to  be  sure,  pro- 
nounced these  references  improper  and  impertinent  — 
for  ought  he  not  to  have  been  grateful  to  have  his  operas 
performed  at  all? 

One  unfortunate  result  of  the  Leipzig  experiment  with 
Lohengrin  was  that  an  intending  purchaser  in  Berlin  of 
Wagner's  rights  to  his  scores  was  intimidated.  "My 
agent  writes  me,"  he  says  in  a  letter  to  Liszt  (No.  144), 
"  that  after  such  a  success  he  found  it  impossible  to  clinch 
the  bargain  with  the  man,  who  had  already  seemed  most 
willing  to  accept  it,"  and  who  had  been  advised  to  await 
the  results  at  Leipzig.  Another  unfortunate  circum- 
stance was  that  the  extensive  and  injudicious  cuts  which 
Rietz  had  made  in  the  score  were  thenceforth  for  many 
years  looked  on  as  authoritative,  and  copied  at  most  other 
German  theatres,  when  Lohengrin  was  first  produced. 

However,  in  spite  of  wretched  performances  at  Leip- 
zig and  elsewhere,  — the  reports  of  which  kept  the  exiled 
Wagner  on  pins  and  needles, —  Lohengrin  gradually  and 
triumphantly  made  its  way  in  Germany  and  outside  of 
Germany.  True,  the  opera  was  twenty-one  years  old 
when  it  entered  England  and  Eussia  (London  in  June 
1868,  and  St.  Petersburg  in  October  of  the  same  year) ; 
twenty-three  when  it  entered  Belgium  (Brussels,  March 
22, 1870) ;  twenty-four  when  first  heard  in  Italy  (Bologna, 
1871),  and  twenty-three  when  it  crossed  the  ocean  to 
A-merica  (New  York,  1870),  while  Paris  did  not  hear  it 


CRITICAL    PHILISTiyES  AND  PROPHETS      277 

till  it  was  forty-four  years  old.  But  iu  most  of  these 
countries  it  became,  in  course  of  the  following  two  dec- 
ades, the  most  popular  of  all  operas.  In  London,  at 
present,  it  draws  larger  audiences  than  any  other  opera, 
German,  Italian,  or  French;  it  was  given  ten  times  in 
the  season  of  1890-1891.  In  Brussels,  during  the  same 
season  it  had  twenty-seven  performances,  or  six  more 
than  the  next  popular  opera.  In  Italy  Wagner's  operas 
(mostly  Lohengrin)  had  seventy  performances  during  the 
season  1889-1890.  At  the  Grand  Opera  in  Paris  ten  of 
the  sixteen  performances  given  in  November,  1891,  were 
devoted  to  Lohengrin,  while  the  total  number  from  Sept. 
16,  1891,  to  Sept.  16,  1892,  Avas  sixty-one.  But  it  is  in 
Germany,  the  home  of  modern  opera,  that  the  trivimph 
of  Lohengrin  is  most  empliatically  revealed  by  statistics. 
In  the  season  1890-1891,  Lohengrin  was  heard  263  times 
(as  against  248  in  the  preceding  season)  in  seventy  Ger- 
man and  Austrian  cities,  the  opera  next  in  popularity 
being  Tannhduser  with  247  performances  (as  against  189 
in  1889-1890).  In  Berlin  Lohengrin  had  its  three  hun- 
dredth performance  on  Oct.  16,  1892. 

CRITICAL   PHILISTIKES   AND   PROPHETS 

Statistics  are  usually  considered  dry  reading,  but  the 
figures  in  the  preceding  paragraph  can  hardly  be  called — . 
uninteresting,  for  they  reveal  an  important  fact r— the 
fact  that  Lohengrin  is  to-day  the  most  popular  work  in 
the  world's  operatic  repertory.  It  is  accepted,  without  a 
dissentient  voice,  as  a  classical  masterwork,  and  most 
persons  will  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  it  should  have 
ever  been  regarded  otherwise.  Indeed,  there  is  a  general 
impression  that  tliis  opera  was  received  with  approval 


278  LOHENGRIN  AT  WEIMAR 

from  the  beginning,  and  that  the  critical  opposition  to 
Wagner  did  not  begin  till  he  brought  out  the  works  of 
his  later  style  —  especially  Triston-  and  the  Nibehmg's 
Ring.  |No  less  a  personage  than  J.  Weber,  one  of  the 
leading  French  critics,  wrote  in  the  Paris  Temps,  as  late 
as  May  10,  1887,  that  ^^  Lohengrin  is  the  only  one  of 
Wagner's  works  which  was  never  attacked,  which  made 
its  way  and  was  received  everywhere  without  opposi- 
tion." When  so  well-informed  a  man  could  make  such 
a  grievous  error,  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
general  public  should  be  misinformed.  The  following 
anthology  of  Lohengrin  criticisms  will  therefore  prove  as 
surprising  to  most  of  my  readers  as  it  is  certainly  amus- 
ing, and  as  it  ought  to  be  instructive  and  a  warning  to 
those  who  persist  in  decrying  Wagner's  later  works  as 
"unintelligible  and  cacophonous,"  while  admitting  that 
they  like  the  earlier  ones  —  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
these  earlier  ones  were  once  equally  denounced  as  being 
"unintelligible  and  cacophonous."  The  operas  have 
not  changed,  but  the  hearers'  mental  powers  have  changed 
and  grown;  and  if  they  will  listen  to  the  later  works 
attentively,  their  minds  will  grow  still  more. 

Shortly  after  the  Weimar  performance  of  Lohengrin, 
Lobe  wrote  in  the  Leipzig  Signale :  — 

"  Shall  future  generations  laugh  at  our  time,  so  boastful  of  the 
spirit  of  progress,  as  we  now  laugh  at  Schaul  and  other  opponents 
of  Mozart  in  former  days  ?  Are  we  men  of  progress  ?  Yes,  as 
far  as  words  go  !  In  reality  we  are  creatures  of  habit  who  dread 
every  effort  and  spend  our  time  criticising,  ridiculing,  and  persecut- 
ing the  few  energetic  individuals  whom  the  Zeitgeist  has  thrown 
among  us,  and  passing  over  their  vigorous  doings  with  a  yawn." 

In  plain  English,  Lobe  asked  his  critical  colleagues 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PEOPHETS     279 

if  they  would  once  more  make  fools  of  themselves  and 
discredit  their  profession  in  re  Wagner;  and  this  is  the 
way  they  answered  his  question :  — 

Moritz  Hauptmann  (whose  letters  on  music  have  been 
lately  translated  into  English)  wrote  in  1859  of  a  Lohen- 
grin performance :  "  We  found  it  difficult  to  stay  to  the 
end,  and  made  up  our  minds  never  again  to  attend  an 
opera  of  this  sort."  Apparently  this  was  not  the  first 
time  that  the  eminent  Hauptmann  had  heard  this  opera, 
for  on  March  7,  1854,  he  wrote  from  Leipzig :  —  _ 

"  The  third  performance  of  Lohengrin  was  given  before  an 
empty  house,  and  so  was  the  fourth,  at  reduced  prices,  for  which 
so  many  had  waited.  .  .  .  Now  it  would  be  easy  to  forgive  a  man 
for  not  having  the  ability  to  do  this  or  that.  But  the  silly,  stupid 
vanity  which  brmgs  forth  and  would  force  on  people  such  a  very 
defective  work  as  the  only  true  thing  — that  is  the  aggravating  and 
really  contemptible  part  of  this  affair."  ^ 

Twelve  years  later,  when  Lohengrin  was  revived  in 
Berlin,  one  of  the  leading  local  critics.  Otto  Gumprecht, 
lamented  "the  cruel  necessity  imposed  on  him  by  his 
duty  "  to  attend  a  performance  of  this  opera  and  "  allow 
his  ears  to  be  assaulted  for  three  hours  by  the  most  piti- 
less of  all  composers."  He  declared  the  music  "a  dis- 
agreeable precipitate  of  nebulous  theories,  a  frosty, 
sense  -  and  -  soul  -  congealing  tone- whining."  ("Frosty 
whining"  is  good.)  Thirteen  years  later,  the  same  critic 
still  found  this  score  to  be  "an  abyss  of  enmii,"  and  its 

1  Perhaps  it  was  not  so  strange  that  Hauptmann  could  not  under- 
stand Wagner's  music,  inasmuch  as  he  had  not  yet  caught  up  with 
\Vel)er,  or  even  with  Gluck.  On  page  U:?  of  his  Letters  ((iernian  edi- 
tion) he  says:  "  Tliere  is  always  sonietliing  amateurish  about  Weber, 
wlierefore  it  is  silly  to  place  him  in  the  front  rank  of  conii)nsers,  where 
Gluck  also  does  not  belong,  on  account  of  liis  lack  of  skill  in  artistic 
elaboration  "  ! 


280  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

principal  characteristic,  "  garrulous  triviality  " !  Another 
Berlin  critic  wrote  that  "nine-tenths  of  the  score  con- 
sist of  miserable,  utterly  inane  phrases."  "The  whole 
instrumentation  .  ,  .  breathes  an  impure  atmosphere." 
"Every  sentiment  for  what  is  noble  and  dignified  in  art 
protests  against  such  an  insult  to  the  very  essence  of 
music."  And  the  only  Berlin  critic  who  spoke  for  Lohen- 
grin, Ernst  Kossak,  did  so,  as  he  confessed,  "at  the  risk 
of  being  stigmatized  as  a  barbarian  by  the  believers  in 
classical  dogmatism."^  Kossmaly  (Echo,  1873)  called 
Lohengrin  "a  caricature  of  music,"  while  another  Ger- 
man critic,  Gustav  Engel,  admitted  in  1859  that  this 
opera  "  has  the  value  of  a  curiosity,  and  that  is  something 
for  the  critics  at  any  rate."  Seven  years  later  Engel 
wrote  that  "  the  music  of  Lohengrin  is  blubbering  baby- 
talk"  (eine  kindlich  stammelnde  Sprache),  and  his  friend 
Gumprecht  opined  that  it  was  "  formlessness  reduced  to 
a  system." 

The  eminent  Viennese  critic.  Dr.  Hanslick,  declared 
(1858)  the  composer  of  Lohengrin  "an  anti-melodious 
fanatic."  The  opera,  he  says,  "lacks  specific  dramatic 
power,  and  only  shows  a  lyric  gift  and  uncommon  theatric 
cleverness."  In  1869  Hanslick  wrote :  "  I  was  sanguine 
enough  to  believe  that  Wagner  would,  in  his  later  operas, 
avoid  the  unmusical,  the  morbid,  the  spiritually  masked 
triviality  of  his  earlier  ones.  The  reverse  has  happened; 
every  new  opera  (following  Tannh&user)  has  become  more 
unmelodious,  tedious,  noisy,  and  abstruse."  And  as  late 
as  1875  this  wonderful  critic  expressed  his  sympathy 
for  the  tenor  Herr  Miiller  by  advising  him  not  to  rviin 

1  Tappert,  Richard  Wagner,  p.  60,  and  his  Wagner  Lexicon,  Wdrter- 
huch  der  Unhoflichkeit. 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PROPHETS      281 

his  artistic  career  by  persisting  in  impersonating  the 
knight  of  the  swan  (he  "  wittily  "  advises  him  "  den  gefie- 
derten  Einspiinner  so  bald  als  moglich  wieder  abzudan- 

ken"). 

"When  Germans  could  write  such  rubbish  about  one 
of  the  greatest  works  of  art  ever  written  in  their  country, 
it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  foreigners  would  show 
better  sense.  An  Italian  critic  wrote  after  the  perform- 
ance of  Lohengrin  at  Milan  (1873),  "  Such  algebraic  har- 
monies may  at  most  succeed  in  Germany,  and  only  in 
Germany;  here  we  ask  for  melody  and  song,  not  for 
declaiming  vocalists."  The  most  eminent  Italian  critic 
of  this  country,  Filippo  Filippi,  gives  (in  the  first  pages 
of  his  Viaggio  nelle  Regione  del  Avenire)  an  amusing 
account  of  the  way  in  which  Wagner  was  up  to  that  date 
(1870)  spoken  of  in  Italy,  where  he  was  chiefly  known 
through  Lohengrin :  — 

"  Not  only  do  people  assert  that  this  music  (which  they  do  not 
know)  is  the  negation  of  art,  of  melody,  of  common  sense,  but 
the  mere  hearing  of  it  has  been  decried  as  a  re&\  jeltatura,  as  harm- 
ful, and  even  serious  journals  have  asserted  that  attendance  at  a 
Wagner  opera  is  followed  by  jaundice,  smallpox,  cholera,  and 
heaven  only  knows  what  other  calamities  !  And  of  tlie  poor  tenor 
who  died  while  he  sang  in  one  of  Wagner's  operas,  they  say  that 
he  succumbed  to  the  noxious  influences  of  the  music  of  the  future. 
To  the  most  malicious  criticisms  of  these  works  are  added  attacks 
on  the  personality  of  their  composer,  on  his  exclusiveness  and  his 
immeasurable  vanity,  which  latter  is  after  all  a  trait  common  to 
all  great  men." 

In  France  there  is  almost  as  extensive  a  Wagner  litera- 
ture as  in  Germany,  and  two  books  have  appeared  there 
especially  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the  ojjinions  on 
Wagner  passed  by  a  multitude  of  writers,  while  a  third 


282  LOUENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

contains  a  collection  of  Wagner  caricatures.^  Among  the 
opponents,  the  fiercest  and  most  formidable,  because  of 
his  authority  and  influence,  was  Fetis  pere  —  the  same 
who  had  the  audacity  to  "  correct "  the  harmonies  in  Bee- 
thoven's Ninth  Symphony,  and  the  same  who,  as  we  saw 
in  the  chapter  on  Tannhduser,  found  that  Wagnerism  was 
on  the  wane  in  Germany  —  the  year  before  the  first  Bay- 
reuth  festival. 

Fetis  wrote  (1852)  that  "Wagner's  efforts  tend  to 
transform  art  by  means  of  a  system,  not  through 
inspiration.  And  why  this?  Because  he  lacks  inspira- 
tion, because  he  has  no  ideas,  because  he  is  conscious  of 
his  weakness  in  this  respect  and  seeks  to  disguise  it." 
Fetis  also  discovered  that  Wagner  "  suppresses  melody 
and  rhythm  "  —  which  is  surely  an  offence  that  ought  to 
have  called  for  police  interference. 

In  the  last  volume  of  Fetis 's  BiograpJiie  des  Musidens 
(1875),  in  the  course  of  some  remarks  on  the  Dutchman, 
Tannhduser,  and  Lohengrin,  we  come  across  this  profound 
solution  of  the  question  why  people  take  an  interest  in 
Wagner :  — 

"A  few  spectators  honestly  admired  this  music,  which  they  did 
not  understand  ;  others  were  greatly  bored  by  it ;  but  the  Germans 
have  a  wonderful  faculty  for  allowing  themselves  to  be  patiently 
bored  in  the  theatre  without  leaving  their  places.  There  was  much 
talk  about  Tannhduser  and  Lohengrin,  and  that  sufficed  to  make 
everybody  want  to  hear  them.  To-day  [1875]  this  curiosity  is 
gratified,  and  indifference  has  followed.  This  music,  which  was  to 
be  that  of  the  future,  is  already  that  of  the  past." 

After   this   crushing  blow   at  Wagnerism,    it    seems 

1  George  Servieres,  R.  Wat/ner  Jug^  en  France ;  Les  Ennemis  de 
Wagner  (of  this  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  a  copy) ;  J.  Grand-Carteret, 
Wagner  en  Caricatures. 


CRITICAL   PHILISTINES  AND  PEOPHETS     283 

hardly  worth  while  to  quote  other  French  criticisms. 
Two  more  choice  samples  may,  however,  be  added ;  Felix 
Clement  says  in  his  Dictionnaire  des  Opiras  concerning 
Lohengrin,  that  the  score  is  "above  all,  wearisome";  and 
of  the  Prelude  he  says :  — 

"  In  spite  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  German  colony,"  —  note  the 
sly  insinuation,  —  "the  hearers  of  this  symplionie,  wliich  is  too 
elaborate  to  merit  the  name  of  prelude,  could  not  see  in  it  anything 
but  a  sequence  of  acoustic  effects,  a  crescendo  cleverly  managed, 
a  persistent  tremolo  on  the  first  string  and  leading  up  to  a  sonorous 
entry  of  the  brass  instruments  —  and  all  this  loithotit  the.  shadoiv 
of  an  idea  ;  it  is  an  audacious  defiance  of  everything  that  people 
have  hitherto  agreed  to  call  music." 

The  eminent  Parisian  critic,  Scudo,  heard  some  Wag- 
ner selections  in  1860.  He  found  the  Tarmhduser  march 
satisfactory,  but  this  same  Lohengrin  prelude  proved  too 
much  for  him,  and  he  described  it  as  "  strange  sounds, 
curious  harmonies  which  do  not  keep  together  and  lead 
to  no  tangible  idea.  One  might  compare  it  to  an  organist 
trying  a  new  instrument,  and  running  Ids  fingers  at  ran- 
dom over  the  keyboard  to  note  the  sound  of  the  different 
stops."  'iSTuff  said.  And  yet  this  chaotic  thing  con- 
tinues to  haunt  our  concert-halls  and  opera-houses  to  the 
present  day! 

England  and  America  have  had  their  Lohengrin  critics 
and  prophets,  second  to  none.  But  there  is  room  here 
for  only  two  specimens.  In  1856  tlie  New  York  Times^s 
critic  wrote  about  Wagner :  "  It  seems  to  us  extremely 
improbable  that  he  will  excite  any  enthusiasm  as  a  com- 
poser .  .  .  The  entire  opera  of  Lohengrin,  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  does  not  contain  a  dozen  bars  of  melody.  It 
is  the  wildest  kind  of  rambling,  utterly  destitute  of  form 


284  LOHENGRIN  AT   WEIMAR 

or  sequence,"  etc.  The  eminent  English  musical  his- 
torian and  teacher,  Dr.  John  Hullah,  heard  Lohengrin  as 
late  as  1875  and  wrote  that  he  found  it  dull.  "  It  will 
attract  for  a  time,"  he  prophesies;  "but  that  works  after 
the  manner  of  Lohengrin,  which  —  accepting  the  word 
'music '  in  the  sense  for  some  centuries  past  given  to  it 
—  may  be  described  as  operas  without  music,  should  take 
any  permanent  hold  on  the  human  soul,  is  to  us  simply 
inconceivable."     (The  italics  are  Hullah's.) 

For  the  climax  of  the  case  against  Lohengrin  we  must 
return  for  a  moment  to  Germany.  To  Otto  Jahn,  the 
well-known  biographer  of  Mozart,  belongs  the  distinction 
of  having  perpetrated  the  most  virulent  of  all  the  attacks 
on  Wagner's  early  operas.  Some  of  his  remarks  on 
Tannhduser  have  already  been  quoted.  Lohengrin  he 
belabors  even  more  sa,vagely,  in  an  essay  of  more  than 
fifty  pages,  at  the  end  of  which  the  thought  that  princi- 
pally forces  itself  on  the  reader's  mind  is,  "  Why  should 
so  great  a  man  as  Otto  Jahn  have  wasted  so  much  time 
and  space  in  demolishing  so  contemptible  and  pitiable  a 
freak  as  Lohengrin  ?  "  According  to  Jahn,  there  is  hardly 
a  redeeming  feature,  poetic  or  musical,  in  the  whole 
opera.  What  he  considers  its  faults  may  be  inferred 
from  one  or  two  specimens.  He  objects  to  Elsa  as 
being  merely  "a  girl  with  weak  nerves."  But  why  on 
earth  should  not  Elsa  be  a  girl  with  weak  nerves?  Must 
every  character  in  an  opera  or  play  be  a  model  of  perfec- 
tion, moral  and  physical?  What  a  bungler  Shakespeare 
was,  for  instance,  when  he  created  such  characters  as 
Cordelia's  sisters!  Jahn,  like  so  many  German  critics, 
seems  to  have  derived  his  ideas  of  what  a  drama  should 
be  from  Sunday-school  books,  in  which  there  are  only 


CRITICAL  PHILISTINES  AND  PBOPUETS     285 

angels  and  devils  and  no  characters  with  merely  human 
weaknesses. 

Of  one  of  the  gems  of  the  opera,  "Athmest  du  nieht 
mit  mir  "  (Breathest  thou  not  with  me),  Jahn  says  that 
"  the  hearer  is  tortured  and  dragged  through  a  saccharine 
bombast  of  harmonies  that  make  one's  hair  stand  on  end, 
and  that  are  as  anti-natural  and  untrue  as  the  romantic 
rhetoric  of  the  text-words."  Let  any  reader  of  this  book 
look  up  this  passage,  in  the  third  act  of  the  opera,  and 
then  marvel  at  German  criticism  of  forty  years  ago! 
Filippo  Filippi  says  of  this  same  passage  that  "  it  is 
exquisite,  one  might  almost  say  d.  la  Gounod,  were  it 
not  that  "Wagner  wrote  it  before  Gounod."  The  same 
Italian  critic  was  delighted  with  Wagner's  novel  use  of 
Leading  Motives.  Towards  the  close  of  the  last  act,  when 
Lohengrin  leaves  Elsa,  he  sa,js,  "the  mvisic  of  the  first 
act  with  the  theme  of  the  Holy  Grail  recurs  again ;  we 
hear  the  melodies  which  had  announced  the  mysterious 
swan-boat  and  which  now  accompany  it  back.  This 
musical  repetition  produces  a  magic  effect;  even  unbe- 
lieving sceptics  and  atheists  feel  themselves  surrounded 
by  a  mystic  atmosphere  of  religious  exaltation."  And 
what  does  the  German  Jahn  say  about  this  same  device 
of  the  Leading  Motive?  He  calls  it  "the  crude  materi- 
alism of  superficial  signs  " ! 

Even  in  Wagner's  harmonies  there  is  notliing  new, 
according  to  Jahn.  He  admits,  however,  tliat  they  are 
often  "striking,"  and,  as  he  wittily  adds,  they  are  like  a 
man  going  about  in  a  social  gathering  and  boxing  every- 
body's ears  —  "mitunter  liagelt  es  formlich  Piiffe  — 
sometimes  it  actually  hails  blows."  The  chorus,  too, 
falls  under  Jahn's  ban.     "  There  is  not  a  trace  of  dra- 


286  LOHENGRIN  AT  WEIMAR 

matic  individuality  in  the  clioruses,"  he  says,  adding  that 
"  the  chorus  takes  no  part  in  the  action  and  almost  every 
time  might  as  well  sing  behind  the  scenes."  The  con- 
clusion is  that  Lohengrin  is  an  ephemeral  work,  "although 
it  may  deceive  the  public  awhile  because  it  meets  the 
faults  and  weaknesses  of  its  time." 

jSTow  it  might  be  urged  in  defence  of  Jahn  and  his 
venomous  colleagues  that  their  astounding  verdict  may 
have  been  due  in  part  to  imperfect  performances,  which 
failed  to  do  justice  to  the  composer's  intentions.  The 
imputation  that  "the  chorus  does  not  act,"  for  instance, 
may  have  been,  and  probably  was,  true  in  the  slipshod 
Leipzig  performance  of  1854  on  which  Jahn's  article 
(which  appeared  first  in  the  periodical  Die  Grenzboten) 
was  based;  and  the  same  might  be  said  of  other  details. 
But  Jahn  cannot  lay  this  flattering  unction  to  his  soul, 
for  he  reprinted  this  essay  many  years  later  in  book 
form,  unaltered.  And  have  not  as  distinguished  critics 
as  he  repeated  betises  like  his  after  the  excellent  Nibelmig 
and  Parsifal  performances  at  Bayreuth?  No!  It  was 
stupidity  pure  and  simple;  stupidity  alone  accounts  for 
such  criticisms  as  have  been  quoted  in  the  preceding 
pages  —  a  mental  opaqueness  which  has  not  only  a  musi- 
cal and  aesthetic,  but  a  psychological  and  Darwinian 
interest. 

But  halt!  Perhaps,  after  all,  we  are  doing  Wagner's 
enemies  a  gross  injustice.  One  of  the  Archphilistines 
in  the  realm  of  music,  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett,  wrote  this 
remarkable  confession  in  the  London  Musical  Times  of 
April,  1884:  — 

"It  is  best  for  music  when  some  divinely  gifted  singer,  like 
Beethoven,  or  Schubert,  or  Schumann,  lives  a  life  of  heavy  bur- 


CBITICAL   PHILISTINES  AND   PROPHETS     287 

dens,  sore  discouragements,  and  heavy  trials.  Tliis  is  the  true 
scliool  for  one  who  has  to  speak  from  lieart  to  heart,  and  from  the 
fulness  of  his  own  experience,  to  touch  the  chords  of  feeling  in 
others. ' ' 

Can  it  be  that  we  have  here  the  revealed  secret  of  a 
Imge  international  conspiracy  of  critics  such  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  before?  Yes,  it  must  be  so!  Did  not 
Rossini  spend  the  last  thirty-nine  years  of  his  life  in 
idleness,  simply  because  he  had  become  rich  and  famous 
too  soon?  And  did  not  everybody  lament  the  loss  of  half 
a  dozen  or  a  dozen  more  operas  like  William  Tell  which 
Mossini  might  have  given  to  the  world  had  he  not  become 
rich  and  famous  too  soon?  Did  not  Meyerbeer,  also, 
rich  and  famous,  become  excessively  unproductive  in 
his  later  years?  Should  Wagner  —  who,  after  Rienzi, 
seemed  likely  to  be  the  successor  of  Rossini  and  Meyer- 
beer —  be  allowed  to  degenerate  in  the  same  way,  to  the 
eternal  loss  of  the  musical  world?  Should  all  experience 
be  thrown  to  the  winds?  No  and  never!  So  they  put 
their  lieads  together,  these  wise  and  benevolent  critics 
did,  and  resolved  to  do  everything  they  could  to  pre- 
vent Wagner  from  sharing  the  fate  of  Rossini  and  Meyer- 
l)eer.  And  they  succeeded.  Wagner  did  not  become 
rich  and  famous  too  soon,  he  did  not  cease  creating  to 
liis  last  years,  and  —  his  fame  has  gone  on  increasing 
from  year  to  year,  while  that  of  the  other  two  masters, 
the  proteges  of  all  the  critics,  is  as  rapidly  decreasing. 
And  for  this  result,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  the 
admirers  of  Wagner  have  to  thank  his  enemies  I 


LITERARY   PERIOD 

SIX   YEARS   LOST   TO   MUSIC 

Critics,  critics,  everywhere,  and  not  a  word  of  praise ; 
was  it  a  wonder  that,  after  such  treatment  at  the  hands 
of  the  musical  "experts,"  mostly  old  men  of  the  old 
school,  Wagner  should  have  written  to  his  friend  Uhlig: 
''Halten  wir  uns  an  die  Jugend, —  das  Alter  lasst  ver- 
recken,  an  dem  ist  nichts  zu  holen  —  let  us  cling  to  the 
young  generation  and  let  the  old  ones  rot, —  there  is 
nothing  to  hope  for  from  them." 

Had  the  musical  judges  possessed  the  insight  of  Liszt, 
had  they  understood  that  the  highest  function  of  criti- 
cism is  the  discovery  of  genius  and  the  proclaiming  of 
its  merits  to  the  world  at  large,  Wagner  would  perhaps 
have  never  joined  the  revolutionary  movement ;  he  would 
have  avoided  his  ten  years'  exile,  and  probably  contin- 
ued to  write  a  new  opera  every  year  or  two  for  immediate 
performance  at  the  Dresden  theatre.  But  the  calamity 
had  now  happened,  he  was  an  outcast  from  his  father- 
land, unable  further  to  superintend  the  production  of  his 
works.  The  hostility  of  the  press,  combined  with  the 
incompetence  of  singers  and  conductors,  and  the  rarity 
with  which  even  tolerably  correct  performances  of  his 
operas  were  given,  convinced  him,  moreover,  of  the  use- 
lessness  of  writing  any  more  operas  until  the  old  ones 
288 


SIX   YEARS  LOST  TO  MUSIC  289 

had  had  at  least  partial  justice  done  them.  He  was 
determined,  however,  to  make  the  world  understand  and 
appreciate  him,  one  way  or  another,  and,  in  his  enforced 
absence  from  the  theatrical  playground  his  only  resource 
was  the  essayist's  pen.  So  he  sat  down  and  wrote  a 
number  of  theoretical  treatises  which  were  to  help  pave 
the  way  for  his  operas.  And  thus  it  happened  that  he 
could  write  to  Liszt,  on  Dec.  17,  1853,  "  For  live  years 
I  have  not  written  any  music." 

Five  years  —  nay,  six  years,  six  of  the  best  years  of 
his  life,  immediately  following  the  completion  of  Lohen- 
grin —  the  greatest  dramatic  composer  the  world  has  ever 
seen  did  not  write  a  note!  Do  you  realize  what  that 
means?  It  means  that  the  world  lost  two  or  three 
immortal  operas,  which  he  might  have,  and  probably 
would  have,  written  in  these  six  years  had  not  an  un- 
sympathetic world  forced  him  into  the  role  of  an  aggres- 
sive reformer  and  revolutionist. 

It  is  true,  the  theoretical  works  Avhich  we  owe  to  this 
period  have  their  value  too;  but  two  extra  AVagner 
operas  would  be  infinitely  greater  treasures  to  the  world 
than  the  essays  and  books  entitled  Art  and  Revohc- 
tion  (1849),  Art  and  Climate,  Art-Work  of  the  Future 
(1850),  Opera  and  Drama  (1851),  Judaism  in  Music 
(1852),  and  even  than  the  autobiographic  Communication 
to  My  Friends  (1851),  whicli  these  years  brought  forth. 
With  the  exception  of  the  last  part  of  Opera  and  Drama, 
these  writings  are  not  among  Wagner's  best  literary  pro- 
ductions, and  some  of  them  are  so  dry,  abstruse,  and 
uninteresting  that  only  an  enthusiast  for  his  operas  could 
ever  be  expected  to  work  his  way  through  them  from 
beginning  to  end.     In  some  of  his   earlier   and   later 


290  LITERARY  PERIOD 

essays,  where  lie  writes  more  specifically  about  theatric 
and  musical  affairs,  he  is  one  of  the  most  direct  and 
forcible  writers  of  Germany:  there  are  pages  which  by 
their  vivid,  concise,  and  incisive  style  equal  the  best  of 
Heine  and  Schopenhauer.  But  at  this  time  Wagner  had 
not  yet  come  under  the  literary  and  philosophical  influ- 
ence of  Schopenhauer,  It  was  a  vastly  inferior  philoso- 
pher whose  style  and  thought  he  then  copied  —  Ludwig 
Feuerbach,  to  whom,  in  fact,  TJie  Art-Work  of  the  Future 
is  dedicated  by  his  "grateful  admirer,"  the  author.^  In 
his  letters  there  are  frequent  references  to  Feuerbach. 
In  one  of  them  he  asks  Uhlig  to  send  him  a  complete 
set  of  that  writer's  works,  and  in  another  he  relates  that 
Feuerbach  had  written  to  him  "  that  he  failed  to  under- 
stand how  there  could  be  two  opinions  about  my  book; 
that  he  had  read  it  with  enthusiasm,  with  rapture,  and 
must  assure  me  of  his  deepest  sympathy  and  warmest 
thanks."  Imitation  being  the  sincerest  form  of  flattery, 
Feuerbach  could  not  but  feel  flattereci;  but  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  Wagner  ever  came  under  the  influence  of 
this  nebulous  writer  on  social  and  religious  topics,  as  it 
led  him  to  speculate  and  write  on  various  abstruse  sub- 
jects in  the  old-fashioned  German  metaphysical  style, 
which  is  anything  but  entertaining  or  instructive,  as  it 
deals  chiefly  with  conjectures,  theories,  and  random 
assertions,  concrete  facts  being  scornfully  ignored.  There 
is  also,  in  these  essays,  a  certain  sophomoric  bombast 
which  in  music  the  composer  had  got  rid  of  with  Rienzi, 
but  which  in  the  newer  field  of  literature  still  oppresses 
him  —  and  the  reader.  Yet  there  are,  even  in  these 
essays,  some  delightfully  luminous  pages,  while  parts  of 

1  In  the  reprint,  this  dedication  is  significantly  omitted. 


ART  AND   JiEVOLUTION  291 

Opera  and  Drama  are,  in  form  aud  substance,  among  the 
most  fascinating  and  important  contributions  ever  made 
to  musical  history,  criticism,  and  aesthetics. 

ART   AND    REVOLUTION 

Concerning  the  first  of  these  theoretical  works  Liszt 
frankly  wrote  to  Wagner,  after  the  latter  had  informed 
him  that  his  Opera  and  Drama  was  completed:  "I  shall 
he  very  glad  to  receive  your  new  work;  perhaps  I  shall 
(111  this  occasion  grasp  your  ideas  definitely,  which  I  did 
not  quite  succeed  in  doing  with  your  Art  and  Revolution  ; 
in  that  case  I  may  dish  it  up  with  a  French  sauce."  If 
even  high-priest  Liszt  could  not  perceive  the  drift  of  Art 
and  Revolution,  we  may  feel  assured  that  a  "French 
sauce  "  was  needed  in  its  case  too,  to  make  it  palatable. 
"^The  gist  of  the  essay  lies  in  a  comparison  of  modern  art 
(1850)  with  ancient  Greek  art.  The  Greek  artist  was 
conservative,  because  his  art  was  part  of  the  national  life ; 
theatres  were  temples,  and  tragic  performances  religious 
ceremonies  in  which  the  whole  populace  took  part. 
Modern  art,  on  the  contrary,  has  degenerated  into  the 
luxury  of  a  few;  instead  of  the  thirty  thousand  Greeks 
who  witnessed  the  ancient  tragedies  of  the  great  poets,  we 
liave  a  few  hundred  bankers  and  merchants  who  lounge 
into  the  theatre  of  an  evening,  all  tired  out  with  the 
day's  hard  labor,  and  therefore  unwilling  to  apply  their 
mind  to  anytliing  serious,  but  ready  to  accept  siich  friv- 
olity and  frippery  as  the  Italian  opera;  with  here  a  pretty 
tune,  there  a  graceful  skip  of  a  dancer,  here  a  gaudy 
scenic  effect,  there  a  volcanic  outburst  of  the  orchestra, 
and  the  whole  without  any  artistic  coherence.  In  face 
of  such  a  state  of  aifairs,  a  real  artist  cannot  be  conserva- 


292  LITERARY  PERIOD 

tive,  but  must  be  revolutionary.  To  use  Wagner's  own 
words :  "  With  us  true  art  is  revolutionary  because  it  can 
exist  only  in  opposition  to  current  practices."  Greek 
practices  were  aesthetic;  modern  life  is  utilitarian.  We 
are  not  even  superior  to  the  Greeks  in  the  matter  of 
slavery :  in  reality  the  slave  has  not  become  free,  but  all 
the  free  have  become  slaves  —  slaves  to  incessant  toil  in 
shops  and  factories,  which  finally  drives  all  but  utili- 
tarian thoughts  and  principles  out  of  private  minds  and 
public  institutions. 

Commercialism  has  been  the  ruin  of  art;  art  itself  has 
become  commercial :  — 

"  What  made  the  architect  revolt  when  he  had  to  waste  his  genius 
on  barracks  and  flats?  Why  did  the  painter  grieve  when  he  was 
compelled  to  portray  the  hideous  physiognomy  of  the  milUonnaire? 
Why  the  musician  when  he  had  to  compose  music  for  the  dining- 
room  ?  Why  the  poet  when  he  had  to  write  novels  for  the  circulat- 
ing library  ?  Because  he  had  to  waste  his  creative  power  to  earn 
his  bread  and  butter,  because  he  had  to  make  a  trade  of  his  art ! 
But  what  must  the  dramatist  suffer  when  he  wishes  to  unite  all  the 
arts  into  the  highest  art-work,  the  drama?  All  the  tortures  of  the 
other  artists  combined." 

It  is  such  reflections  as  these  that  led  Wagner  to  write 
to  F.  Heine  ''that  our  whole  public  art  is  no  art,  but 
only  art-journeymanship,  —  that  it,  with  all  the  founda- 
tions on  which  it  is  built,  must  go  unpitied  to  the  devil." 
What  is  to  be  done  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs? 
Wagner's  suggestion  is  eminently  characteristic,  but  in 
this  case  entirely  utopian.  H«^  calls  ujwn  statesmen  to 
free  the  arts  from  the  yoke  of  commercialism,  to  enable 
artists  to  create  once  more  for  art  and  not  for  money,  and 
to  begin  with  the  theatre,  because  of  its  great  influence. 


THE  ART-WORK  OF  THE  FUTURE  293 

The  state  should  support  the  theatre  and  those  who  con- 
tribute to  its  Tvork,  and  admission  should  be  free  to  all. 

Wagner  here  obviously  speaks  pro  domo,  but  he  forgets 
that  statesmen  are  powerless  to  do  such  a  thing  unless 
they  are  backed  up  by  public  sentiment ;  and  public  sen- 
timent to-day,  in  art  matters,  is  unfortunately  not  Avhat 
it  was  in  the  Greece  of  Pericles,  when  public  funds  were 
voted  for  other  than  utilitarian  purposes,  and  when,  as 
Aristotle  expresses  it,  every  citizen  was  a  judge  of  art. 
Wagner's  plan,  at  the  same  time,  reveals  his  colossal 
egotism :  for  it  is  easy  to  read  between  the  lines  that  the 
chief  object  of  his  revolutionary  ideal  —  political,  social, 
and  artistic  —  was  to  pave  the  way  for  correct  perform- 
ances and  general  appreciation  of  his  own  music-dramas. 
Liszt  and  Uhlig  could  not  understand  such  a  mammoth 
egotism,  hence  they  found  the  drift  of  his  essay  obscure. 
But  we  who  know  how  Wagner  succeeded,  twenty-seven 
years  later,  in  reproducing  at  Bayreuth  a  sort  of  Greek 
Olympic  Festival,  have  no  difficulty  in  interpreting  his 
vague  utterances  in  Art  and  Revolution  as  a  sort  of  pre- 
liminary heralding  of  the  Bayreuth  plan,  which,  indeed, 
took  clear  shape  in  his  mind  two  years  later. 

THE   ART-WORK   OF    THE   FUTURE 

When  a  man  writes  an  essay,  especially  a  revolu- 
tionary essay,  he  is  naturally  anxious  that  it  should 
attract  some  attention.  It  was  Uhlig's  self-assumed 
duty  to  see  that  Ids  exiled  friend's  writings  should 
receive  some  notice.  "Only  one  thing  is  important," 
Wagner  wrote  to  him:  "that  they  be  read  as  mucli  as 
possi])le;  and  whatever  will  tend  to  this  pleases  me. 
That  they  should  be  attacked  is  quite  natural,  and  a 


294  LITERARY  PERIOD 

matter  of  indifference  to  me.  I  bring  no  reconciliation 
to  worthlessness,  but  war  to  the  knife."  This  "war  to 
the  knife  "  was  continued  in  a  new  essay  which  he  wrote 
as  soon  as  Art  and  Revolution  was  olf  his  hands.  When- 
ever Wagner  undertook  a  new  task,  —  musical  or  literary, 
—  he  concentrated  all  his  powers  on  it,  and  everything 
else,  for  the  moment,  dwindled  into  insignificance.  "I 
have  been  seized  with  a  furious  desire  to  produce  a  new 
literary  composition,"  he  wrote  to  Uhlig,  on  Oct.  26; 
and  on  the  same  date  Heine  received  a  letter  containing 
this  characteristic  information :  — 

' '  Now  that  I  have  at  last  got  into  a  quiet  home  here,  my  fingers 
are  absokitely  burning  to  write  my  pamphlet,  The  Art-  Work  of  the 
Future,  the  composing  and  issuing  of  which  have  become  to  me  a 
veritable  heart-need.  The  work  is  instinctively  expanding  itself 
under  my  hands  to  the  full  —  and,  as  I  now  see,  to  its  necessary  — 
proportions  ;  and  —  I  think  you  know  me  —  when  I  have  anything 
of  this  kind  on  my  mind,  I  curse  the  time  which  I  must  spend  on 
eating,  sleeping,  and  necessary  recreation,  and  for  which  I  must 
twitch  off  a  corner  from  my  appetite  for  work.  For  nothing  in 
the  world,  then,  could  I  force  myself  to  devote  a  morning  to  letter- 
writing." 

In  due  course  of  time  the  new  essay  was  sent  to  Uhlig 
for  discussion.  But  again  his  poor  apostle  seems  to 
have  had  difficulty  in  grasping  its  drift,  and  Wagner  was 
quite  right  in  conjecturing  that  he  "  must  have  expounded 
it  badly."  Though  full  of  interesting  ideas  it  is  not  a 
model  of  lucid  exposition.  But  we  get  its  gist  in  this 
explanation :  — 

"But  if  I  wish  to  show  that  pla.stic  art,  being  artificial  —  only 
an  art  abstracted  from  true  art  —  must  cease  entirely  in  the  future  ; 
if  to  this  plastic  art  —  painting  and  sculpture  —  claiming  nowa- 
days to  be  principal  art,  I  deny  life  in  the  future,  you  will  allow 


^^^  c 


THE  ART- WORK  OF  THE  FUTURE  296 

that  this  should  not,  and  could  not,  be  done  with  two  strokes  of  the 
pen." 

Quite  so.  He  devotes  no  less  than  167  pages  to  this 
astounding  task.  He  tries  to  show  how  the  arts  went  to 
the  devil,  because,  after  the  days  of  Greek  tragedy,  each 
one  tried  to  go  its  own  way;  and  that  the  only  way  to 
/recreate  the  true  art-work  —  the  "  art-work  of  the  future  " 
f  —  isTo  reunite  these  arts  in  the  music-drama.  There  is 
something  almost  sublime  in  the  egotism  which  makes 
Wagner  argue  at  such  length  that  lifeless  sculpture  should 
disappear  in  the  living,  moving  actor ;  that  the  only  true 
painter  is  the  landscape  artist  who  provides  scenery  for 
the  theatre ;  that  the  chief  and  highest  function  of  the 
architect  is  to  build  temples  of  art;  and  that  the  poet 
should  be  merged  in  the  musician.  Liszt  was  right  in 
saying  that  Wagner  was  inspired  by  fanaticism  for  his 
art.  We  smile  at  the  thought  that  a  man  of  thirty-six 
should  have  boiled  over  with  such  youthful  enthusiasm 
for  his  own  profession  that  everything  else  must  be 
brushed  aside  to  make  way  for  it ;  but  we  also  see  that 
this  ebullition  of  destructive  lava  is  the  normal  state  of 
a  young  volcano ;  and  after  reflecting  on  these  points  we 
pardon  the  bad  style  of  the  essay,  and  gratefully  note  the 
numerous  admirable  aphorisms  and  aperqus  on  all  the 
arts,  especially  on  music,  wliich  are  scattered  throughout 
The  Art-Work  of  the  Future. 

After  this  essay  had  been  disposed  of,  its  author 
declared  that  "  this  will  have  been  my  last  literary  work, " 
and  to  Liszt  he  wrote :  "  I  am  now  free  from  all  inclina- 
tion to  theorize,  and  have  got  so  far  as  to  feel  a  desire 
to  devote  myself  to  artistic  creation  alone."  But  three 
weeks  later  the  wind  blows  from  another  quarter :  *'  After 


296  LITERARY  PERIOD 

this  piece  of  writing  I  was  so  determined  to  do  no  more 
literary  work  of  that  kind  that  now  I  must  laugh  at 
myself;  from  all  sides  necessity  urges  me  to  put  pen  to 
paper  again."  An  essay  would  at  any  rate  put  a  few 
florins  in  his  empty  pocket.  Accordingly,  the  editor  of 
the  Stuttgart  Deutsche  Monatshefte  soon  received  one  of 
those  ponderous  metaphysical  disquisitions  which  seem 
to  flourish  on  German  soil,  atid  which  express  abstrusely 
in  sixteen  pages  what  might  have  been  put  concretely  in 
six.  It  was  entitled  Art  and  Climate,  and  was  written, 
as  the  author  explained,  "  to  expose  the  lazy,  cowardly, 
preposterous  objection  of  '  climate, '  in  all  its  empti- 
ness"; that  is,  in  answer  to  objections  which  had  been 
made  to  his  first  theoretic  essay,  that  climatic  conditions 
would  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  phenomena  of  Greek 
national  art-culture  in  a  more  northern  latitude.  On 
the  contrary,  Wagner  argues,  it  is  not  in  tropieal  coun- 
tries that  art-culture,  like  other  forms  of  civilization, 
flourishes  best,  but  in  regions  where  a  constant  fight 
with  the  elements  develops  man's  powers. 

"Not  in  the  rank  tropics,  not  in  the  voluptuous  flower  land 
India,  was  trtie  art  born,  but  in  the  naked  sea-girt  rocks  of  Greece  ; 
on  the  stony  soil  and  under  the  scant  shade  of  the  olive  tree  stood 
its  cradle  ;  for  here  Hercules  suffered  and  fought  amidst  priva- 
tions, and  here  true  man  was  first  born." 

OPERA   AND   DRAINIA 

We  come  now  to  the  longest  and  by  far  the  most 
important  of  these  early  theoretical  treatises,  a  work  of 
407  pages  entitled  Oper  und  Drama.  The  reception  given 
to  the  preceding  literary  efforts  had  hardly  been  of  a 
nature  to  encourage  his  persevering  in  that  direction. 


OPERA  AND  DRAMA  297 

"  I  anticipated, "  he  writes,  "  that,  in  general,  no  further 
notice  would  be  taken  of  them ;  but,  only  with  a  deep 
sigh  do  I  at  last  perceive  that  even  by  the  few  of  our 
own  party  who  took  notice  of  them,  they  were  quite 
misunderstood.  Prejudice  has  such  a  firm  hold  that 
only  life  itself  can  break  it."  Nevertheless,  he  perse- 
vered; for  what  else  should  he  do?  He  needed  money 
badly,  and  these  essays  brought  him  at  least  enough  to 
pay  his  household  expenses  for  a  few  weeks.  To  Avrite 
any  more  operas  was  useless,  since  the  last  one  he  had 
composed  had  been  neglected  for  three  years  and  was 
being  neglected  three  more  after  its  Weimar  jiTonidre. 
"So  now,"  he  writes  to  Uhlig,  "the  choice  as  to  what  to 
do  next  tortured  me :  was  it  to  be  a  poem,  a  book,  or  an 
essay?  I  seemed  to  myself  so  capricious,  and  all  my 
doings  so  unprofitable  and  unnecessary."  Various  pro- 
jects were  in  his  mind.  Liszt  wanted  him  to  compose 
Siegfried'' s  Death ;  then  he  thought  of  writing  a  poem  on 
the  subject  of  Achilles,  or  essays  on  the  Redemption  of 
Genius  or  the  Unbeauty  of  Civilization. 

To  Liszt  he  wrote  about  the  same  time :  "  To  do  liter- 
ary Avork  I  have  no  longer  a  strong  inclination :  I  preach 
after  all  to  deaf  ears."  Nevertheless  he  took  his  pen 
again  and  devoted  four  months  of  incessant  labor  to  the 
most  elaborate  of  all  his  literary  productions.  In  tliis, 
he  says,  he  spared  no  pains  to  be  exact  and  complete; 
for  which  reason  he  at  once  made  up  his  mind  not  to 
hurry,  so  as  not  to  be  superficial.  When  he  first  entered 
on  his  task,  he  intended  to  call  the  new  essay  The  Nature 
of  the  Opera  (Das  Wesen  der  Oper),  but  as  it  gradually 
expanded,  he  chose  the  title  of  Opera  and  Drama.  As 
usual,  he  worked  at  this  "with  fanatic  diligence,"  to  use 


298  LITERARY  PERIOD 

his  own  words ;  and,  as  usual,  he  made  a  "  tidy  copy  "  of  it, 
revised  and  corrected,  for  Uhlig,  who  was  to  find  a  pub- 
lisher for  it  in  Germany.  In  February,  jl^^lj  he  wishes 
the  "  hateful  manuscript "  out  of  his  hands,  and  writes 
that  he  expects  to  finish  the  whole  about  March.  In 
June  he  gave  some  private  lectures  at  Zurich  to  a  number 
of  friends  and  acquaintances,  in  wliich  he  read  parts  of 
his  essay.  Selections  from  it  also  aj)peared  in  periodi- 
cals, as  that  would  "attract  attention"  to  them;  and  it 
was  not  till  September  that  the  whole  appeared  in  book 
form.  The  success  of  tliis  book  appears  to  have  been 
greater  than  that  of  the  preceding  ventures;  for,  six 
months  later,  Wagner  reports  the  sales  as  "highly  satis- 
factory, "  and  adds  that  the  publisher  gives  him  hopes  of 
the  possibility  of  a  second  edition.  He  had  intended  to 
ask  sixty  louis  d'or  (=  f  240)  for  Oper  und  Drama.  What 
he  finally  received,  after  applying  to  several  publishers, 
was  twenty  louis  d'or  at  once,  and  the  promise  of  the 
same  sum  after  the  sale  of  the  first  edition  of  fiv6  hun- 
dred copies.  Only  $80  for  four  months'  hard  labor. 
Five  dollars  a  week!  Well  might  he  exclaim,  after  nar- 
rating his  good  fortune  in  at  last  finding  a  publisher: 
"But, —  if  I  were  compelled  to  live  by  my  pen!  " 

While  he  was  at  work  on  Oper  und  Drama,  he  pro- 
nounced it  of  "  the  most  extraordinary  imjjortance  "  to 
himself,  and  hoped  that  to  others,  also,  it  would  prove 
not  unimportant.  "The  first  part,"  he  wrote  to  Uhlig, 
"  is  the  shortest  and  easiest,  perhaps  also  the  most  inter- 
esting; the  second  goes  deeper,  and  the  third  ...  is  a 
work  which  .   .   .  goes  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter." 

This  "  bottom  "  was  obviously  too  deep  for  the  musical 
writers  of  that  period.     They  could  not  fathom  the  pur- 


OPERA  AND  DBAMA  299 

port  of  his  new  art-tlieories,  nor  —  so  far  as  tliey  did  not 
maliciously  and  intentionally  misrepresent  tliem  —  as 
was  done  very  often,  and  is  still  done  occasionally  — 
were  they  entirely  to  blame  for  this.  For,  apart  from 
the  occasional  obscurity  and  frequent  abstruseness  of  his 
literary  style,  both  reader  and  writer  were  hampered  by 
the  fact  that  no  concrete  illustrations  could  be  taken 
from  existing  works  of  art  to  elucidate  some  of  his  new 
principles. 

At  the  beginning  Wagner  points  out  that  heretofore  ^d 
operatic  composers  had  committed  the  fundamental  mis- 
take of  making  the  Music  their  principal  object  and  the 
Drama  merely  a  means,  whereas,  in  truth,  the  Drama 
should  be  the  principal  object  and  the  Music  a  means 
toward  its  complete  realization.  Consequently  he 
devotes  only  the  first  part  of  his  treatise  to  the  subject  of 
operatic  music  ("The  Opera  and  the  Xature  of  JNIusic  "), 
while  the  second  considers  "The  Drama  and  the  Kature 
of  Dramatic  Poetry " ;  and  in  the  third  he  discusses 
"Poetry  and  Music  in  the  Drama  of  the  Future." 

The  least  important  of  these  three  sections  is  the 
second,  in  which  the  author,  after  expressing  his  aver- 
sion to  mere  literary  or  book  dramas  (which  are  not 
intended  for  stage-representation),  goes  on  to  describe 
the  origin  of  the  modern  drama  from  the  romance,  and 
then  discusses  the  plays  and  principles  of  Shakespeare, 
Goethe,  Schiller,  Eacine,  etc.  In  Part  III.  (which  is 
l)erhaps  the  most  original  and  valuable  musico-aesthetic 
treatise  in  existence)  he  considers  the  problem  of  mythi- 
cal versus  historic  subjects  of  opera;  alliteration  versus 
rhyme;  the  use  of  Leading  Motives;  the  question,  should 
poet  and  musician  be  two  persons  or  one?  the  value  of 


300  LITERARY  PERIOD 

the  German,  French,  and  Italian  languages  for  operatic 
purposes  (tlie  preference  being  given  to  German) ;  the 
relation  of  the  operatic  singer  to  the  orcliestra;  sym- 
phonic form  compared  with  operatic  form;  harmonic 
melody  versus  dance  melody;  gesture  and  pantomime; 
instrumentation ;  the  function  of  the  chorus  in  the  music- 
drama,  etc. 

EVOLUTION   OF   THE   OPEEA 

The  first  part  of  Opera  and  Drama,  which  treats  of  the 
evolution  of  the  opera,  was  chiefly  responsible  for  the  fact 
that  this  essay  attracted  so  much  more  attention  than  its 
predecessors.  Most  readers  prefer  personal  criticisms 
to  abstract  discussion,  and  the  first  part  of  the  essay 
appealed  to  this  taste  by  being  a  sketch  of  operatic  his- 
tory with  special  reference  to  the  composers  who  are 
most  conspicuous  therein.  Wagner  did  not  hesitate  to 
handle  some  of  the  popular  idols  quite  roughly,  for  which 
he  was  decried  as  an  iconoclast  and  a  heretic.  Many  of 
his  opinions  seemed,  indeed,  bold  and  paradoxical;  but 
in  the  forty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  they  were 
expressed,  time  has  justified  them  in  almost  every  detail. 
He  attacked  the  aria  as  being  merely  "  a  means  for  the 
singer  to  display  the  agility  of  his  vocal  cords, "  ^  at  the 
expense  of  drama  and  music,  of  librettist  and  composer, 
—  and  does  not  the  whole  world  now  agree  with  him? 
Have  not  the  "prima-donna  operas,"  with  their  insipid 

1  In  the  Art-Work  of  the  Future  he  inveighs  against  the  aria  as  "  a 
disgusting  parody  of  folksong,  .  .  .  which,  in  defiance  of  all  natural- 
ness, and  dissolved  from  all  human  feeling  and  verhal,  poetic  con- 
nection, tickles  the  ears  of  our  idiotic  operatic  audiences."  Strong 
language,  this,  but  think  of  the  countless  provocations  to  formulate 
such  language  he  must  have  had  in  his  career  as  conductor  of  the  nu- 
merous vulgar  prima-donna  operas  {hen  current. 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  OPERA  301 

and  \T.ilgar  florid  arias,  fled  to  South  America  as  their 
hist  refuge?  Have  not  the  Italian,  French,  and  German 
composers  ceased  to  write  such  operas  for  the  especial 
benelit  of  singers,  because  there  is  no  longer  any  demand 
for  them? 

Again,  does  any  one  deny  to-day  that  these  florid 
operas  were  an  artificial,  hothouse  product  for  fashion- 
able entertainment?  It  was  natural  that  Italy,  ^'the  only 
large  civilized  country  in  Europe  in  which  the  drama  has 
never  risen  to  any  importayice,"  should  have  been  the 
birthplace  of  such  a  hybrid  monstrosity  as  the  opera, 
with  its  female  Ronieos,  fortissimo  conspirators'  cho- 
ruses, and  constant  prevalence  of  dawce-rhythms,  even  in 
serious  and  tragic  situations  —  the  opera,  in  which  music 
is  associated  with  poetry  without  being  amalgamated 
with  it.  But  if  Italian  audiences  are  to  this  day  so 
indifferent  to  the  drama  that  they  have  been  known  to 
"encore"  Lohengrin's  entry  on  the  swan  boat,  Italian 
composers,  at  any  rate,  have  learned  a  lesson  from  Wag- 
ner. They  no  longer  convert  opera  into  a  mere  "  variety 
show,"  with  singers  and  dancers  as  soloists,  at  the  expense 
of  all  dramatic  propriety.  Verdi  himself  has,  in  his  old 
days,  changed  his  attitude  so  much  that  Hans  von  Biilow 
was  justified  in  calling  him  the  Italian  Wagner;  Boito 
has  followed  the  same  example,  and  as  for  the  younger 
composers  of  Italy,  they  have  even  begun,  like  AVagner, 
to  discard  the  very  name  of  "opera,"  using,  instead,  such 
terms  as  "drama,"  or  "lyric  comedy,"  to  emphasize  the 
new  spirit. 

Wagner  acknowledges,  and  clearly  points  out  in  this 
essay,  all  tliat  his  predecessors  had  contributed  toward 
the  gradual  transformation  of  the  prima-douna  opera  into 


302  LITERARY  PERIOD 

the  music-drama.  Gluck's  famous  reform  consisted  in 
this,  that  he  adopted,  consciously,  and  as  a  matter  of  prin- 
ciple, the  doctrine  thatjoperatic  melody  should  correspond 
in  expression  with  the  sense  of  the  words  wedded  to  it. 
This  produced  a  change  in  the  relative  position  of  the 
operatic  factors :  the  singer  is  no  longer  a  despot,  to 
whose  vanity  everything  must  be  sacrificed,  but  he 
becomes  the  interpreter  of  the  composer^s  intention^ 
But  that  is  as  far  as  Gluck  went;  and  those  critics  who 
have  asserted  that  he  practically  anticipated  Wagner  in 
all  his  innovations  forgot  (or,  more  probably,  did  not 
know)  that,  to  use  Wagner's  own  words,  "in  Gluck's 
opera,  aria,  recitative,  and  ballet,  each  complete  in  itself, 
stand  as  unconnected  side  by  side,  as  they  did  before  him, 
and  still  do,  almost  always,  to  the  present  day"  (1850). 
In  other  words,  there  is  as  yet  no  real  amalgamation  of 
music  and  drama,  no  form  organically  connecting  each 
part  of.  the  opera  with  every  other. 

If  Gluck  insisted  on  the  claims  of  the  composer  as 
against  the  singer,  he  did  not,  on  the  other  hand,  alter 
the  relations  of  poet  and  composer.  Such  a  thing  as 
allowing/f/ie  drama  to  condition  the  form  of  music  nevGT 
occurred  to  him  any  more  than  it  did  to  his  predecessors 
or  followers.  Progress  was  made  after  him,  simply  in 
enlarging  or  broadening  the  old  operatic  forms  (Cheru- 
bini,  Mehul,  Spontini) ;  and  in  France,  especially,  by 
paying  more  attention  to  the  libretto.  In  Germany 
Mozart  carried  on  Gluck's  efforts  to  make  the  music 
correspond  emotionally  Avith  the  words.  Head  how  Wag- 
ner expresses  his  "  contempt "  for  Mozart :  "  This  glorious 
composer,  by  simply  following  his  instincts,  discovered 
the  power  of  music  to  attain  truthfulness  of  dramatic 


EVOLUTION   OF  THE  OPERA  303 

expression  by  an  endless  variety  of  means,  in  a  much 
greater  degree  than  Gluck  and  all  his  followers."  So 
true  was  his  musical  instinct,  that  the  value  of  his  music 
is  always  determined  by  the  excellence  of  its  poetic  sub- 
stratum. "0  how  I  love  and  worship  Mozart,"  he 
exclaims,  "  because  it  was  710^  possible  for  him  to  write 
as  good  music  for  Titus  as  for  Don  Juan,  for  Gosi  fan 
Tutte  as  for  Figaro :  how  shamefully  that  would  have  dis- 
honored music!"  Had  Mozart  been  more  careful  in  the 
choice  of  librettos,  had  he  met  the  right  poet,  it  would 
liave  been  he,  the  most  absolute  of  all  composers,  who 
would  have  solved  the  operatic  problem  for  us  long  ago, 
by  helping  to  create  the  truest,  most  beautiful,  and  per- 
fect drama.  But  as  he  accepted,  almost  without  choice, 
anything  that  was  placed  in  his  hands,  the  beauty  and 
value  of  his  music  lies  in  individual  points  and  traits; 
and  although  his  best  music  is  operatic,  he  did  not  aban- 
don tlie  old,  worn-out  operatic  forms,  and  therefore  did 
not  help  to  solve  the  formal  problem  of  the  music-drama. 

After  Mozart,  Italy  once  more  came  to  the  front  with 
an  epoch  in  which  absolute  melody  (tune)  ran  riot,  at  the 
expense  of  every  other  element  of  music,  and  to  the  total 
eclipse  of  the  drama.  This  tendency  culminated  in 
Kossini,  whose  florid  tunes  Wagner  happily  compares  to 
the  chemical  perfumes  which  fashionable  people  accept 
as  the  equivalent  of  the  natural  fragrance  of  wild  flowers 
(folksongs).  For  singers,  players,  and  librettists,  he 
made  everything  as  easy  and  as  effective  as  possible;  and 
tor  the  audiences  he  wrote  just  what  the  fashion  of  the 
iiKjment  called  for.  Hence  he  was  the  idol  of  singers, 
players,  and  audiences. 

He  showed,  in  his  William  Tell,  that  he  was  capable 


304  LITERARY  PERIOD 

of  mucli  better  things  tlian  he  had  done  almost  all  his 
life ;  but  he  deliberately  sacrificed  his  artistic  conscience, 
his  genius,  to  the  desire  for  immediate  popularity.  To 
reach  such  a  goal,  his  method  was  no  doubt  the  right 
one ;  for  many  years  his  operas  almost  monopolized  the 
European  theatres :  indeed,  it  is  on  record  that  one  year, 
in  Vienna,  the  whole  operatic  season  was  devoted  to 
Kossini.  Donizetti  followed  his  method,  with  similar 
results;  his  principal  aim,  like  Rossini's,  was  to  tickle 
the  ears  of  a  frivolous  public  with  vocal  frippery.  And 
what  has  Time,  that  inexorable  judge  in  aesthetic  mat- 
ters, said  about  this  method?  To-day,  of  Rossini's  forty 
operas,  only  two  or  three  are  sung,  at  long  intervals; 
and  the  same  is  true  of  Donizetti's  sixty  operas.  Their 
vocal  fashion  has  "gone  out,"  like  crinolines  and  far- 
dingales,  although  only  eighty  and  sixty  years  respec- 
tively have  elapsed  since  these  two  composers  produced 
their  first  successful  operas.^  Compare  this  with  the 
method  and  the  fate  of  Wagner. 

1  Here  is  some  food  for  thought:  When,  a  few  days  before  the  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  Rossini's  birth  (Feb.  29,  1892),  a  call  was  issued 
in  the  New  York  papers  for  a  meeting  of  his  admirers,  to  arrange  for  a 
fitting  celebration  of  this  great  event,  three  liersons,  carefully  counted, 
came,  beside  the  journalist,  Mr.  P.  G.  Hubert,  who  chronicled  this  fact. 
Mr.  Damrosch  did,  indeed,  conduct  the  Stabat  Mater,  but  the  Italian 
Opera  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  took  no  notice  of  the  event 
whatever.  Mr.  Seidl  celebrated  it  with  a  —  Wagner  concert !  In  Lon- 
don, too,  the  Rossini  centenary  passed  without  any  celebration  except 
the  performance  of  a  few  of  his  overtures  at  a  Crystal  Palace  concert. 
The  London  World's  critic  justly  remarked  on  this  occasion :  "  We  are 
apt  to  wonder  nowadays  why  the  public  should  have  been  so  impressed 
at  first  by  the  apparent  originality,  dramatic  genius,  depth,  and  daring 
of  Meyerbeer  as  to  be  mystified  and  scandalized  when  Mendelssohn, 
Schumann,  and  Wagner  treated  him  with  no  more  respect  tlian  if  he 
had  been  an  old  clo'  man  from  Houndsditch.  But  the  explanation  is 
very  simple.  We  compare  Meyerbeer  with  Wagner ;  amateurs  of  1840 
compared  him  with  Rossini,  and  that  made  aU  the  difference." 


EVOLUTION   OF  THE  OPERA  305 

Xever  again,  after  the  composition  of  Rienzi,  did  lie 
for  a  moment  consider  what  effect  his  music  wouhl  have 
on  the  public;  not  once  did  he  stoop  to  conquer  audiences 
with  cheap  vocal  or  instrumental  tricks;  he  wrote  for 
himself,  and  for  an  ideal  audience  of  Liszts.  And  what 
has  been  the  result?  The  result  has  been  that  the  public, 
to  whose  vitiated  taste  he  refused  to  stoop,  has  risen  up 
to  his  level.  Although  his  first  success  came  but  thirty 
years  later  than  Eossini's,  but  ten  years  later  than  Don- 
izetti's, not  one  of  his  eleven  operas  has  lost  its  vitality; 
they  are  all,  with  the  exception  of  Rienzi,  becoming 
more  alive,  more  frequently  performed,  to  the  extent  of 
about  a  thousand  evenings,  in  German  cities  alone,  every 
year.  The  lesson  should  not  be  lost  on  future  composers. 
It  may  pay  to  supply  the  world  with  fashionable  frip- 
pery; but  the  glory  is  transient,  the  reaction  disastrous 
and  humiliating. 

To  return  to  Wagner's  argument.  The  branch  of  the 
opera  represented  by  Rossini  —  the  branch  which  makes 
its  essence  to  consist  in  bare  melody,  and  nothing  but 
melody  —  came  to  an  end  with  that  composer.  But  there 
was  another  branch  —  the  romantic  —  which  began  with 
Weber  and  led  to  nobler  results,  although  it  also  failed 
to  solve  the  problem  of  the  true  relation  between  poet 
and  composer.  Weber,  displeased  with  the  artificial 
flowers  and  perfiimes  of  Kossini,  made  an  effort  to  trans- 
plant the  wild  flower  of  folksong  itself  to  the  theatre. 
He  succeeded  in  part,  —  for  Weber  was  a  great  and  noble 
artist,  —  yet  the  theatric  atmosphere  was  not  the  proper 
soil  for  these  wild  flowers.  Weber's  example,  however, 
was  eagerly  followed  by  other  composers,  who  now  began 
to  hunt  for  wild  flowers  in  all  possible  countries.     Local 


306  LITERARY  PERIOD 

color  became  the  fashion,  and  thus  arose  the  national  and 
historic  schools  of  opera.  Auber  wrote  his  Neapolitan 
Masaniello.  Eossini  himself,  feeling  that  the  old  school 
was  "played  out,"  followed  with  the  Swiss  Williain  Tell; 
and  all  parts  of  the  world  were  now  searched  for  some- 
thing novel  and  piquant  to  adorn  operas  with.  The 
climax  of  this  tendency  is  reached  in  Meyerbeer,  the 
Jew,  who  gathered  his  wares  in  all  countries,  and  brought 
them  to  market  in  Paris,  where  they  created  an  enormous 
sensation.  "  Thus  Meyerbeer  composed  operas  in  Italy 
d  la  Kossini  only  till  the  wind  changed  in  Paris,  and 
Auber  and  Rossini,  with  Masaniello  and  Tell,  blew  up 
the  new  wind  to  a  storm.  .  .  .  His  shrill  cry  suddenly 
made  Auber  and  Rossini  inaudible:  the  wicked  Robert 
the  Devil  took  them  all." 

The  argument  concludes  with  a  severe  criticism  of 
Meyerbeer,  the  secret  of  whose  oj)eratic  music  Wagner 
declares  to  be  effect,  or,  more  precisely,  "  effect  without  a 
cause."  Everything  that  can  possibly  tickle  the  ears  or 
please  the  sight  of  the  spectators  is  dragged  in  by  the 
hair,  whether  there  is  any  justification  for  it  in  the 
drama  or  not ;  as  a  striking  instance  of  which  he  cites 
the  sunrise  in  the  ProphUe,  which  is  not  a  dramatic  but 
a  purely  mechanical  effect. 

A   COIMlVIIIIsnCATION  TO  ]Vnr  FRIENDS 

The  historic  sketch  of  the  Opera,  in  Oper  und  Drama, 
comes  to  a  somewhat  abrupt  end.''  We  know  from  a 
letter  to  Uhlig  (Oct.  22,  1850)  that  Wagner  intended  at 
first  to  bring  the  sketch  up  to  date  by  passing  therein 
judgment  on  his  own  operas.  He  reserved  this  task, 
however,  for  his   Communication  to  My  Friends,  which 


A   COMMUNICATION   TO  MY  FRIENDS         307 

also  belongs  to  this  literary  period  (1851).  It  is  a  paper 
of  131  pages,  with  many  autobiographic  details,  which 
have  been  used  in  their  proper  place  in  the  preceding 
chapters.  The  self-criticisms  on  his  operas  will  be  more 
conveniently  considered  in  the  chapter  on  "Leading 
]\Iotives,"  so  that  only  a  few  general  remarks  remain  to 
be  made  here.  At  first  there  was  some  trouble  with  the 
publishers,  who  wanted  some  sentences  of  the  Communi- 
cation omitted.  The  author  was  willing  enough,  "if 
the  fools  would  only  send  me  what  I  am  to  alter  " ;  for, 
as  he  states,  "  to  people  of  that  kind,  in  constant  fear  of 
the  censorship,  it  is  mere  secondary  matters,  single 
expressions,  and  strong  figures  of  speech,  that  give 
offence."^  The  Communication  was  originally  published 
as  a  preface  to  the  three  opera-poems  Dutchman,  Tann- 
hduser,  and  Lohengrin  ;  and  one  of  its  claims  to  historic 
notice  is  that  in  it  the  first  public  announcement  is  made 
of  his  plan  for  a  Nibelung  Festival. 

After  completing  the  Communication  he  wrote  to 
Fischer  that  he  was  going  to  a  neighboring  hydropathic 
establishment :  "  there  will  I  wash  out  my  body,  as  now 
by  my  literaiy  work  I  have  washed  clean  my  intellect." 
He  needed  a  rest,  for  his  brain  was  tired,  and  dyspepsia 
troubled  him.  Prose  literary  work  seems  to  have  ex- 
hausted him  much  more  than  musical  and  poetic  composi- 
tion (doubtless  because  it  gave  him  less  pleasure),  and  at 
a  later  date  he  implored  Uhlig :  "  You  must  not  discuss 
theory  with  me  any  more;  it  drives  me  clean  crazy  to 
have  to  do  with  such  matters.     The  nerves  of  my  brain! 

1  Wagner's  copy  was  usually  the  better  for  such  "editing";  for  ho 
was  apt  to  write  "  Carlylese  "  in  moments  of  irritation,  and  to  regret  it 
afterwards.  Even  his  essay  on  Liszt's  Symphouic  Poems  was  "  edited  " 
by  Liszt  himself. 


308  LITERARY  PERIOD 

—  there's  the  bother!     I  have  cruelly  taxed  them;  it  is 
possible  I  may  yet  one  day  go  mad !  " 

WAGNER 'S   OPINIONS    OF    OTHER    COMPOSERS 

The  enemies  of  Wagner,  in  their  fanatic  eagerness  to 
damage  his  reputation  and  diminish  his  popularity,  found 
one  of  the  most  effective  weapons  in  the  continually 
repeated  assertion  that  he  despised  and  attacked  all  the 
classical  masters  who  preceded  him.  This  accusation 
was  made,  not  ten  times,  but  ten  thousand  times.  He 
himself  refers  to  it  in  a  letter  ^  to  Dr.  L.  Pohl,  whom  he 
thanks  for  having  dedicated  to  him  an  edition  of  Bee- 
thoven's letters  (1865). 

"  What  you  did  in  dedicating  this  book  to  me,  you  must  know  : 
you  must  know  that  you  tliereby  offend  all  those  who  continue 
with  the  utmost  persistence  in  the  attempt  to  make  the  public 
believe  that  I  despise  our  musical  classics.  For  what  reason  they 
wish  to  keep  up  this  silly  belief  must  also  be  known  to  you.  I 
assume,  therefore,  that  your  dedication  amounts  to  a  definite  dec- 
laration ;  I  thank  you  for  it  cordially." 

These  falsehoods  about  Wagner's  opinions  were  put' 
into  circulation  soon  after  the  appearance  of  his  theoreti- 
cal essays,  the  critics  vying  with  one  another  in  their 
eagerness  to  follow  the  example  of  Fetis,  whom  Wagner 
accuses  (1852)  of  misquoting  his  opinions  in  the  most 
contemptible  way  and  basing  thereon  a  "complete  cari- 
cature" of  himself,  for  the  edification  of  the  French 
public.  "What  an  ass  "  is  his  comment  on  this  proceed- 
ing. But  Fetis  hardly  deserved  this  epithet;  he  was  too 
sly  and  malicious  to  be  called  an  ass;  and  so  were  the 

1  Kiirschner's  Wagner  Jahrbuch,  1886,  p.  8. 


OPINIONS  ON   OTHER   COMPOSERS  309 

other  critics,  who  found  an  easy  way  to  combat  Wagner 
in  dishonestly  quoting  detached  sentences  from  his  criti- 
cal writings  as  proof  that  he  "disparaged"  the  great 
masters.  There  was  no  lack  of  opportunity  for  such  a 
proceeding,  for  "Wagner  differed  from  most  musicians  and 
"  critics  "  in  really  being  a  a-itic :  he  did  not  follow  the 
fashion  cultivated  by  most  professionals  and  amateurs,  of 
finding  nothing  but  perfection  in  one  composer  (espe- 
cially after  his  death)  and  nothing  but  imperfection  in 
another;  but,  while  cordially  praising  each  master  for 
what  was  great  in  him,  he  also  put  his  finger  on  the 
weak  spots,  sometimes  in  mild,  at  other  times  in  sar- 
castic or  violent,  terms,  according  to  his  mood  or  provo- 
cation. 

Italian  Coiwposers.  —  Enough  has  been  said  in  preced- 
ing chapters  to  convince  the  reader  that  no  musician  has 
ever  spoken  more  cordially,  more  enthusiastically,  of  the 
great  masters  than  Wagner,  and  that  he  proved  his  devo- 
tion not  only  by  words  but  by  conscientious  performances 
of  their  works  during  his  conductorship  at  the  Royal 
Opera  in  Dresden.  j\Iany  equally  convincing  facts  will 
be  given  in  later  chapters;  but  it  is  worth  Avhile  to  tarry 
here  a  moment  by  way  of  throwing  some  light  on  the 
literary  morality  of  the  musical  critics  who  were  Wag- 
ner's antagonists.  In  the  first  i)lace,  it  need  not  be 
stated  that  the  question  of  nationality  never  for  a  moment 
entered  into  Wagner's  estimate  of  other  composers.  If 
he  found  fault  with  Rossini,  Bellini,  and  Donizetti 
(regarding  Verdi  he  is  silent),  it  was  not  because  they 
were  Italians,  but  because  they  had  degraded  the  opera, 
in  his  opinion,  into  a  circus  ring  for  the  exhibition  of 
vocal  acrobatics.     The  nationality  of  Palestrina  did  not 


310  LITERARY  PERIOD 

prevent  him  from  worshipping  his  creations  and  pro- 
nouncing them  "incomparable  masterworks." 

"  With  the  appearance  of  opera  in  Italy,"  he  says,  "begins  the 
decline  of  Italian  music  ;  an  assertion  which  will  meet  with  the 
approval  of  those  who  have  had  opportunity  to  realize  the  sublimity, 
the  wealth,  and  the  profound  expressiveness  of  Italian  church 
music  of  former  centuries,  and  who,  after  hearing,  e.g.,  the  Stabat 
Mater  of  Palestrina,  will  not  possibly  be  able  to  sustain  the  opin- 
ion that  Italian  opera  is  a  legitimate  daughter  of  this  wonderful 
mother."  ^ 

It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  Wagner  con- 
demned the  composers  of  Italian  opera,  it  was  not  their 
musical  gifts  that  he  questioned,  but  their  misuse  of 
them.  He  frankly  acknowledged  the  beauty  of  their  mel- 
odies,—  or,  rather,  the  prettiness  of  their  tunes, — but 
insisted  that  they  were  out  of  place  in  a  music-drama; 
a  point  on  which  the  whole  musical  world  has  now  come 
to  agree  with  him.  If  he  had  no  liking  for  Donizetti  in 
general,  he  nevertheless  wrote  (1841)  regarding  La  Fa- 
vorita:  "In  this  music  of  Donizetti  we  find,  besides  the 
acknowledged  merits  of  the  Italian  school,  that  superior 
refinement  and  dignity  which  we  miss  in  the  numberless 
other  operas  of  this  inexhaustible  maestro."  If  he  found 
the  score  of  Bellini's  Borneo  and  Juliet  "shallow  and 
inane,"  he  nevertheless  wrote:  "Since  I  learned  of  the 
impression  made  on  Bellini  late  in  his  life  by  Beetho- 

1  It  is  interesting  to  compare  with  this  the  opinion  of  Verdi,  as  ex- 
pressed in  a  letter  to  Hans  von  BUlow  (1892) :  "Happy  indeed  are  you 
in  being  able  to  call  yourselves  the  sons  of  Johann  Sebastiau  Bacli.  As 
for  ourselves,  we  also,  who  are  the  sons  of  Palestrina,  have  had  once  a 
grand  school  wliioh  was  truly  our  own.  Nowadays  it  has  become  de- 
generate, and  threatens  to  come  to  grief  altogether.  Ah,  if  we  could 
only  begin  over  again  !  " 


OPINIONS   ON   OTHER   COMPOSERS  311 

ven's  music,  of  which  he  had  never  heard  any  before  his 
arrival  in  Paris,  I  have  taken  occasion  to  observe  the 
qualities  of  Italian  art-lovers  from  this  point  of  view, 
and  gained  therefrom  the  most  favorable  opinion  of  their 
leading  trait;  namely,  an  open  and  delicate  artistic  recep- 
tivity in  every  direction."  If  he  found  fault  with  Ros- 
sini on  account  of  his  artistic  insincerity  and  frivolity, 
lie  nevertheless  noted  the  agreeable  impression  made  on 
liim  by  the  Barber  of  Seville  when  he  heard  a  correct 
performance  of  it  at  a  suburban  theatre  in  Turin.  And 
he  even  offers  this  apology  for  Rossini's  musical  sins 
(1860) :  "  What  detracts  from  his  value  and  dignity 
would  have  to  be  charged  not  to  his  endowments  or 
artistic  conscience,  but  solely  to  his  public  and  his 
environment,  which  made  it  specially  difficult  for  him  to 
rise  above  his  time,  and  thereby  participate  in  the  great- 
ness of  the  true  heroes  of  art." 

French  Composers.  —  For  French  opera  Wagner  natu- 
rally had  much  more  appreciation  than  for  Italian  opera, 
because  the  French  composers  paid  more  attention  to 
the  drama  and  never  went  so  far  in  cultivating  the 
instrumental  (florid)  style  of  vocalism  as  the  Italians 
did.  One  of  the  oddest  episodes  of  his  life  was  his  at- 
tempt, in  1841,  to  do  missionary  work  for  Auber  in  Paris. 
He  wrote  an  article,  in  the  course  of  whicli  he  dwelt  on 
the  superiority  of  Auber's  Masaniello  and  other  Frencli 
operas  to  those  of  the  Italian  invaders,  including  Rossini. 
When  the  article  appeared  (Gazette  Musicale),  he  found 
tliat  tliis  passage  had  been  omitted.  On  com})laining  to 
the  editor  (Ed.  JNIonnaie,  who  was  also  inspector  of  all  the 
royal  theatres  in  France),  he  received  the  re])ly  that  it 
was  impossible  to  permit  the  appearance  of  a  passage  in 


312  LITERARY  PERIOD 

which  Kossini  was  found  fault  with  in  favor  of  Auber. 
It  would  have  been  very  funny  if  the  article  had 
appeared  anonymously,  with  the  omitted  passage,  and 
its  author  accused  of  chauvinism.  Wagner  as  a  French 
chauvinist!  The  anecdote  has  its  lesson,  for  it  shows 
how  superior  a  great  genius  like  Wagner  is  to  "  patriotic  " 
considerations.  He  simply  preferred  Auber  to  Kossini 
because  he  considered  him  a  greater  composer,  and  it 
aroused  his  indignation  to  see  a  great  native  genius 
ignored  in  favor  of  a  less  gifted  foreigner. 

He  had  not  met  Auber  at  this  time,  but  his  admiration 
for  Masaniello  was  unbounded,  and  he  pronounced  it  "  a 
national  work  such  as  any  country  can  produce  only 
once,"  "an  opera  hot  enough  to  scorch,  and  entertaining  to 
the  point  of  enchantment."  This  opera,  indeed,  had  a  con- 
siderable effect  on  the  evolution  of  his  own  style,  espe- 
cially in  two  features  —  the  conduct  of  the  chorus,  which 
here,  almost  for  the  first  time  in  opera,  is  made  to  take 
a  real,  active  part  in  the  plot;  and  secondly  the  panto- 
mimic music  which  Auber  wrote  to  express  the  thoughts 
of  the  dumb  heroine  of  his  opera.  In  the  absence  of  artic- 
ulate speech  and  song,  the  orchestra  alone  can  speak  to 
the  audience  and  explain  the  progress  of  the  drama:  this 
was  a  novel  task,  which  excited  the  composer's  creative 
fancy  and  urged  him  to  do  liis  best;  and  how  much  Wag- 
ner benefited  by  the  brilliant  result  here  attained,  is 
shown  in  the  numerous  eloquent  orchestral  passages  in 
his  operas  and  music-dramas,  which  are  not  mere  musical 
interludes,  but  pantomimic  music,  illustrating  dumb 
action  on  the  stage.  There  is  even  a  grain  of  truth  in 
the  suggestion  which  has  been  made,  that  Wagner's  later 
music-dramas  are  a  higher  evolution  from  pantomimic 


OPINIONS  ON   OTHER    COMPOSERS  313 

music, —  Avith  speech  restored  and  made  melodious, — 
rather  tlian  a  direct  offspring  of  Italian  opera. 

As  regards  other  French  opera-composers  whose  works 
were  known  to  Wagner,  we  cannot  stop  to  consider  them 
in  detail.  He  has  good  words  as  well  as  censure  for  the 
two  "  French  "  composers  of  Italian  descent,  Spontini  and 
Cherubini;  but  what  he  especially  admired  was  the  old 
school  of  French  opera  comique  —  a  form  of  art  which 
he  considers  to  have  been  more  congenial  to  the  French 
than  the  Grand  Opera. 

"  Wliither  has  the  grace  of  M6hul,  Isouard,  Boieldieu,  and  the 
young  Auber  fled  before  the  vulgar  quadrille- rhythms  which  to-day 
prevail  in  the  Ope'ra  Comique  ? 

"  Among  the  very  few  tone-poets  related  to  Gluck  and  Mozart, 
whom  we  meet  on  the  desolate  ocean  of  operatic  music  as  lonely 
guiding-stars,  we  must  especially  mention  the  masters  of  the 
French  school  of  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Independent, 
and  sympathizing  with  the  nation,  these  masters  created  the  most 
excellent  works  that  the  history  of  a  nation  can  show.  In  their 
operas  is  embodied  the  virtue  and  character  of  their  nation." 

Perhaps  in  no  other  passage  is  Wagner's  habitual 
attitude  toward  other  composers  — a  disposition  to  praise 
what  is  good  and  censure  what  is  bad  —  more  notably- 
shown  than  in  the  following  concerning  one  master  of 
the  French  school :  — 

"  In  the  summer  of  1838,  while  I  was  engaged  on  the  subject  of 
liitnzi,  I  rehearsed  with  great  devotion  and  enthusiasm  M6hul's 
Jacob  and  his  Sons  with  my  Riga  company.  The  peculiar,  gnaw- 
ing melancholy  which  habitually  overpowered  me  when  I  conducted 
one  of  our  ordinary  operas  was  interrupted  by  an  inexpressible, 
enthusiastic  delight  when,  here  and  there,  during  the  performance 
of  nobler  works,  I  became  conscious  of  the  incomparable  effects 
that  could  be  produced  by  musico-dramatic  combinations  on  the 


314  LITERARY  PERIOD 

stage  —  effects  of  a  depth,  sincerity,  and  direct  realistic  vivacity 
sucli  as  no  other  art  can  produce.  I  felt  quite  elated  and  enno- 
bled during  the  time  that  I  was  rehearsing  MeTiul's  enchanting 
Joseph  with  my  little  opera  company.  That  such  impressions, 
which  like  flashes  of  lightning  revealed  to  me  unsuspected  possi- 
bilities, continued  to  recur,  accounted  for  the  fact  that  I  remained 
attached  to  the  theatre  no  matter  how  violently,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  typical  spirit  of  our  operatic  performances  evoked  in  me  feel- 
ings of  loathing." 

German  Composers.  —  For  the  greatest  of  all  musical 
thinkers,  Sebastian  Bach,  Wagner  had  an  unbounded 
admiration,  and,  as  Hans  von  Wolzogen  relates  in  his 
Erinnerungen  an  Richard  Wagner  (p.  26),  it  was  his  music, 
beside  Beethoven's,  that  chiefly  engaged  him  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life.  The  following  are  some  of  his  utter- 
ances noted  by  Wolzogen :  "  Bach  works  only  for  himself, 
has  no  public  in  mind;  only  occasionally  does  it  seem 
as  if  he  were  playing  something  for  his  wife :  there  we 
have  a  glimpse  of  the  future  which  is  already  contained 
entirely  in  his  works."  "Without  any  modern  senti- 
ment, how  warm,  how  healthy  and  natural,  is  his  music, 
how  full  of  feeling,  what  strange  cries  in  it  occasionally." 
On  another  occasion  he  expressed  his  delight  over  the 
Preludes,  whose  melodies  "we  cannot  sing  afterwards," 
adding,  "such  things  are  always  new."  Similar  com- 
ments may  be  found  in  his  literary  essays  in  abundance. 

His  admiration  for  Gluck  was  perhaps  more  intellectual 
than  emotional.  In  his  remarks  on  this  composer  we 
nowhere  find  those  ecstatic  exclamations  of  delight  with 
which  he  speaks  so  often  of  Bach,  Beethoven,  Mozart, 
Weber,  and  other  German  composers,  as  well  as  of  some 
of  the  French  school,  as  we  have  just  seen.  But  every- 
where he  takes  occasion  to  point  out  the  instructive  side 


OPINIONS   ON  OTHER    COMPOSERS  315 

of  Gluck's  achievements,  and  his  great  services  in  restor- 
ing respect  for  the  poetry  in  operatic  composition  and  in 
bridling  the  extravagances  of  singers.  The  difference 
between  Gluck  and  Mozart  he  indicates  in  these  words : 
"Gluck  endeavored  consciously  to  speak  correctly  'c.nd 
intelligibly  in  declamatory  recitative  as  well  as  in  the 
melodious  aria :  Mozart  could  not,  in  consequence  oi  his 
healthy  instincts,  speak  otherwise  than  correc<ly." 
Neither  of  the  two  abolished  the  worn-out  forms  of  'Ital- 
ian opera,  but  Mozart  was  the  more  spontaneous  musician 
of  the  two.  Figaro  leads  him  to  speak  of  "the  incom- 
parable dramatic  talent  of  the  glorious  master."  And 
of  his  masterwork :  "  Look  at  his  Don  Juan !  Wlx-^re  else 
has  music  acquired  such  infinitely  diverse  individuality, 
and  learned  to  characterize  so  surely  and  defhiitely, 
with  the  greatest  variety  and  exuberance  of  means?" 
Of  the  3Iagic  Flute  Wagner  says :  "  What  celestial  magic 
prevails  in  this  work  from  the  most  popular  melody  to 
the  most  sublime  hymn!  What  variety,  what  many- 
sidedness!  The  quintessence  of  all  the  noblest  art  blos- 
soms appear  here  united  and  blended  into  one  flower. 
What  spontaneous  and  at  the  same  time  noble  popularity 
in  every  melody,  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  impos- 
ing! —  In  truth,  genius  has  here  made  &,imost  too  great  a 
giant-step ;  for  in  creating  German  opera,  Mozart  at  the 
same  time  gave  us  the  most  perfect  masterwork  of  its 
kind,  which  cannot  possibly  be  surpai^sed,  nay,  whose 
genre  cannot  even  be  enlarged  and  developed." 

Thus  did  Wagner  "despise"  Mozart.  At  the  same 
time  he  is  not  blind  to  Mozart's  shortcomings,  and  does 
not  hesitate  to  lament  tlie  occasional  triviality  of  his 
themes  and  superficiality  of  workmanship  (caused  by  the 


316  LITERARY  PERIOD 

necessity  of  working  rapidly  to  earn  his  bread) ;  or  to 
regret  the  empty  cadences  in  Mozart's  symphonies  which 
often  suggested  to  him  the  clatter  of  dishes  in  a  dining- 
room,  as  if  these  pieces  were  still  intended  for  table- 
music;  or  to  deplore  his  carelessness  in  the  choice  of 
librettos.  He  also  realized  that,  great  as  was  Mozart's 
achievement,  his  promise  was  still  greater :  "  We  know 
how  he  went  to  meet  his  too  early  death  with  the  bitter 
consciousness  that  he  had  just  arrived  at  the  point  of 
showing  the  world  what  he  could  really  do  in  music." 

"  Mozart  died  when  he  approached  the  secret  (of  music). 
Beethoven  was  the  first  to  enter  it."  This  is  a  later  form 
of  Wagner's  early  credo  (written  in  the  Paris  period) : 
"I  believe  in  God,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven."  His  wor- 
ship of  Beethoven  was  almost  fanatical.  I  have  related 
how,  in  his  early  youth,  he  knew  Beethoven's  quartets 
and  sonatas  by  heart;  how  Heine,  in  his  usual  witty 
manner,  declared  that,  in  Paris,  Wagner  always  had 
" friend  of  Beethoven  "  printed  on  his  visiting-card;  how 
he  did  missionary  work  for  the  symphonies,  writing  ex- 
planatory programmes  for  them,  and  proving  to  the  aston- 
ished Dresdeners,  by  a  remarkable  performance,  that  the 
Ninth  Symphony,  previously  neglected,  was  a  master- 
work.  In  Paris  he  had  a  plan  of  writing  a  Beethoven 
biography,  and  this  was  partially  realized  in  1870  by  his 
seventy -three-page  essay  on  Beethoven  —  a  eulogistic 
tribute  such  as  has  never  been  paid  by  one  musician  to 
another.  In  view  of  all  this  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
quote  any  of  his  remarks  on  Beethoven.  A  single  one 
will  suffice :  — 

"The  great,  much-promising  heritage  of  the  two  masters, 
Haydn  and  Mozart,  was  made  by  Beethoven ;  he  developed  the 


OPINIONS   ON   OTHER   COMPOSERS  317 

symphony  to  such  a  fascinating  fuhiess  of  form,  and  filled  this 
form  with  such  an  unheard-of  wealth  of  enchanting  melody,  that 
we  stand  to-day  before  the  Beethoven  Symphony  as  before  a 
boundary  stone  of  an  entirely  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  art ; 
for  with  them  a  phenomenon  has  appeared  in  the  world,  with 
which  the  art  of  no  time  and  no  nation  has  had  anything  to  com- 
pare even  remotely." 

To  get  a  good  idea  of  this  Beethoven  worship,  the 
reader  should  secure  a  copy  of  Glasenapp's  Wagner  Ency- 
cloj)cedie,  in  which  his  scattered  utterances  regarding  the 
various  composers  and  other  celebrities,  as  well  as  his 
remarks  on  his  own  operas,  and  on  a  multitude  of  mis- 
cellaneous subjects,^  are  collated  alphabetically.  There 
are,  besides,  remarks  on  his  life,  elaborate  analyses  of 
almost  all  his  symphonies,  especially  the  Ninth,  obser- 
vations on  the  sonatas,  quartets,  overtures,  the  opera 
Fldelio,  etc.  Yet,  even  in  this  case,  Wagner's  worship 
is  not  entirely  blind.  Though  he  idolizes  Beethoven,  he 
knows  that  nothing  human  is  perfect.  He  notes  that 
Beethoven's  innovations  are  to  be  found  much  more  in 

1  What  an  endless  variety  of  topics  are  discussed  in  Wagner's  liter- 
ary works  may  be  seen  from  the  list  of  topics  here  collected  under 
letter  A:  Aachen  music-festival,  Abel,  Abt,  Achilleus,  Adam  and  Eve, 
Adolphe  Adam,  ^gypten,  jEneas,  Africa,  Agamemnon,  Agesilaos, 
Ahasver,  Ahriman,  Aischylos,  Albericus,  Alemaunen,  Alexander,  Alex- 
andrinism,  Alkibiades,  Alps,  America,  Amphion,  Amsterdam,  Anacker, 
Andalusia,  Anschiitz,  Antiios,  Antigone,  Antique  tragedy,  Antillen, 
Antoninen,  Apel,  Apelles,  Aphrodite,  etc.  Glasenapp  has  also  compiled 
a  Wdf/ner  Lexicon,  in  which  that  composer's  utterances  on  abstract 
topics  are  brought  together;  such  as  absolute  music,  adagio,  aria,  an- 
them, civilization,  drama,  feeling,  music,  harmony,  concerts,  tone-color, 
instrumentation,  love,  literary  dramas,  opera,  press,  singing,  pliiloso- 
pby,  i)olitics,  morality,  romauce,  genius,  vegetarianism,  vivisection, 
folksongs,  slaves,  sonata,  music-schools,  etc.,  etc.  Tliese  two  books 
will  be  found  extremely  useful  by  those  who  possess  Wagner's  works, 
as  an  index,  and  by  those  who  do  not  possess  them  as  containing  the 
cream  of  his  literary  writings  in  short  excerpts. 


318  LITERARY  PERIOD 

the  sphere  of  rhythmic  elaboration  than  in  that  of  har- 
monic modulation.  He  found  his  instrumentation  defec- 
tive in  some  instances  and  shows  how  it  should  be 
improved.  Beethoven,  moreover,  did  not  advance  music 
by  creating  new  forms;  his  greatness  consisted  in  the 
astounding  wealth  of  ideas  with  which  he  filled  up  the 
old  forms,  enlarged  to  their  utmost  capacity. 

On  reading  Wagner's  remarks  on  Beethoven,  especially 
d  propos  of  the  Ninth  Symphony,  one  might  fancy  that  he 
considered  himself  a  lineal  descendant  of  that  master.  In 
truth,  however,  his  points  of  resemblance  to  Beethoven 
are  not  nearly  so  remarkable  as  those  which  affiliate  him 
with  Weber,  in  whose  works  (especially  Euryanthe)  the 
root  of  Wagnerism  must  be  sought.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that,  next  to  the  composer  of  Fidelio,  no  other 
musician  should  receive  so  much  attention  in  Wagner's 
writings  as  Weber,  except  perhaps  Mozart.  The  Frei- 
schiitz  was  his  firSt  love,  Euryanthe  inspired  Lohengrin, 
and  if  at  one  time,  in  his  youth,  he  had  foolishly  cen- 
sured this  opera,  he  made  up  for  his  error  subsequently 
by  declaring  it  to  be  "worth  more  than  all  the  opera 
seria  of  Italy,  Prance,  and  Judaea."  But  he  also  notes 
Weber's  faults,  —  his  occasional  concessions  to  the  gal- 
lery; his  misapplication  of  folksong  to  dramatic  uses; 
the  sacrifice  here  and  there  of  word-accent  to  melody; 
the  undramatic  use  of  the  chorus,  etc.  By  quoting 
such  censures  apart  from  the  context,  Wagner's  enemies 
could  easily  make  it  appear  as  if  he  "  despised  "  a  com- 
poser who  really  was  one  of  the  idols  of  his  youth  and 
manhood. 

Modern  Composers.  —  While  thus  defending  Wagner 
against  the  misrepresentations  of  dishonest  and  menda- 


OPINIONS   ON   OTHER   COMPOSERS  319 

cious  critics,  I  would,  not  by  any  means  take  the  stand 
that  he  was  always  a  safe  and  infallible  critic.  He 
judged  almost  everything  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
music-drama,  and  whatever  is  one-sided  and  exaggerated 
in  his  verdicts  must  be  placed  to  this  account.  Some  of 
the  greatest  and  most  original  composers  are,  moreover, 
not  mentioned  at  all  in  his  writings,  or  only  incidentally, 
—  for  example,  Chopin  and  Schubert,  whom  Rubinstein 
very  properly  classes  among  the  five  greatest  masters  the 
musical  world  has  seen.  Concerning  Chopin,  the  only 
utterance  of  his  I  have  been  able  to  find,  occurs  in  the 
report  of  a  conversation  witli  Mr.  Dannreuther  (Grove, 
IV.  369) :  "  Mozart's  music  and  Mozart's  orchestra  are 
a  perfect  match:  an  equally  perfect  balance  exists  be- 
tween Palestrina's  choir  and  Palestrina's  counterpoint; 
and  I  find  a  similar  correspondence  between  Chopin's 
piano  and  some  of  his  Etudes  and  Preludes.  — I  do  not 
care  for  the  Ladies'  Chopin;  there  is  too  much  of  the 
Parisian  salon  in  that ;  but  he  has  given  us  many  things 
which  are  above  the  salon." 

Nothing  could  be  more  surprising  than  Wagner's 
neglect  of  Schubert,  to  whom  there  are  only  one  or  two 
brief  references  in  all  his  writings.  AVolzogen,  however, 
says  that  he  was  to  his  last  days  very  fond  of  some  of 
Schubert's  songs,  especially  Set  mir  gegrilsst.  and  often 
had  them  sung  for  him;  while  Dannreuther  relates  that 
Wagner  remarked :  "  Schubert  has  produced  model  songs, 
but  that  is  no  reason  for  us  to  accept  his  pianoforte 
sonatas  or  his  ensemble  pieces  as  really  solid  work.  .  .  . 
Schumann's  enthusiasm  for  Schubert's  trios  and  the  like 
was  a  mystery  to  ]\Iendolssohn.  .  .  .  Curiously  enough, 
Liszt  still  likes  to  play  Schubert.     I  cannot  account  for 


320  LITERARY  PERIOD 

it."  Here  Sclmmann  and  Liszt  doubtless  had  a  keener 
scent  for  genius  than  Wagner  and  Mendelssohn. 

"It  was  Schubert's  mission,"  says  Liszt,  "to  do  dra- 
matic music  an  immense  service  indirectly.  He  applied 
and  developed  harmonic  declamation  in  a  still  more  effec- 
tive manner  than  Gluck  had  done,  elevated  it  to  an 
energy  and  power  that  had  previously  been  considered 
impossible  in  song,  and  adorned  poetic  masterpieces  with 
its  expression;  and  in  tliis  way  he  exerted  on  operatic 
style  a  perhaps  greater  influence  than  has  hitherto  been 
clearly  understood."  To  which  we  may  add  a  sentence 
from  Sir  George  Grove's  masterful  remarks  on  Schubert 
and  his  songs :  ^  "  The  music  changes  with  the  words  as  a 
landscape  does  when  sun  and  cloud  pass  over  it.  And 
in  this  Schubert  has  anticipated  Wagner,  since  the  words 
to  which  he  writes  are  as  much  the  absolute  basis  of  liis 
songs  as  Wagner's  librettos  are  of  his  operas." 

That  Wagner  "despised  the  classical  masters"  is,  as 
we  have  now  seen,  absurdly  untrue.  That  he  did  not 
think  very  much  of  most  of  his  contemporaries  is,  how- 
ever, true;  but  nobody  ever  reproached  him  on  this 
score,  because  all  the  hostile  critics  were  conservatives, 
who  themselves  could  not  find  much  to  praise  in  recent 
musical  productions.  He  was  annoyed  at  the  way  in 
which  many  modern  composers  stole  his  thunder.  After 
all,  the  radical  Wagner  perhaps  never  uttered  such  a 
sweeping  condemnation  of  all  contemporary  musicians 
as  the  conservative  Rubinstein  did  in  his  recent  work 
entitled  Die  Musik  und  Hire  Meister,  in  which  he  declares 
that  music  came  to  an  end  with  Chopin  (pp.  112  and  152)  ! 
Brahms  fares  ill  at  Wagner's  hands.     There  are  several 

1  Dictionary  of  Music  and  Musicians,  III.  365. 


OPINIONS   ON    OTHER    COMPOSERS  321 

uncomplimentary  allusions  to  him  in  the  essays,  and  he 
seems  to  have  offended  Wagner  especially  by  writing 
symphonies  after  he  had  said  that  Beethoven  had  written 
the  last  great  works  that  coidd  be  composed  in  that  form. 
Yet  it  seems  that  there  was  no  personal  prejudice  or  ill- 
feeling  between  these  two  composers.  Brahms  was  one 
of  those  who,  after  Wagner's  death,  sent  a  wreath  for 
his  coffin ;  and  according  to  Wolzogen  (Erinnerungen,  p. 
28)  Wagner  repeatedly  had  some  of  Brahms's  pieces 
played  for  him  with  the  express  purpose  of  cultivating 
a  taste  for  them.  But  he  did  not  succeed :  the  "  academic 
mask"  over  them  repelled  him.  "I  should  be  really 
delighted  if  I  could  once  more  meet  with  something  great 
and  true  in  our  music,"  he  would  sigh;  and  in  a  more 
playful  mood  he  exclaimed:  "Yes,  if  Brahms  sounded 
as  well  as  Beethoven,  he  would  be  a  great  composer 
too!" 

For  another  musician  of  the  present  Viennese  school, 
Anton  Bruckner,  he  had  more  sympathy,  although  one 
might  have  expected  him  to  dislike  that  composer  be- 
cause, like  many  others  of  the  present,  he  steals  his  thun- 
der. Wagner's  admiration  for  Eobert  Franz  was  re- 
ferred to  in  a  preceding  chapter.  That  he  could  also 
admire  a  master  in  the  humble  sphere  of  dance  music  is 
shown  by  this  sentence  (VII.  393):  "A  single  Strauss 
waltz  surpasses  in  grace,  refinement,  and  real  musical 
substance  most  of  the  products  of  foreign  manufacture 
which  we  often  import  at  such  great  cost." 

The  opinions  on  Liszt  and  Berlioz  will  be  more  oppor- 
tunely presented  in  later  chapters;  while  the  Jewish 
composers,  Mendelssohn  and  Meyerbeer,  must  be  consid- 
ered in  connection  with  an  essay  and  a  subject  which 


322  LITERARY  PERIOD 

played  a  great  role  in  Wagner's  life,  and  to  which  we 
must  now  turn. 

JUDAISM   IN   MUSIC 

In  the  same  year  that  Ai't  and  Revolution,  Art  and 
Climate,  and  Wieland  der  Schmid  appeared,  Wagner  wrote 
an  essay  entitled  Judaism  in  Music  which  was  first  printed 
in  tlie  Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik  for  Sept.  3  and  6,  1850, 
The  first  intimation  we  have  of  it  is  in  a  letter  dated 
Aug.  24,  1850,  printed  in  the  Uhlig  correspondence  as 
"addressed  to  a  mutual  friend."  Herein  Wagner  ex- 
presses doubts  whether  Editor  Brendel  will  have  the 
courage  of  printing  such  an  article ;  is  very  anxious  to 
have  it  appear  in  one  number,  or  at  most  in  two;  and  if 
that  is  impossible,  he  wants  it  to  be  printed  as  an  extra 
supplement  at  his  own  expense.^  In  case  Brendel  refused 
it,  it  was  to  come  out  as  a  pamphlet.  The  article  is 
signed  with  the  pseudonym  "R.  Freigedank"  (Free 
Thought),  and  he  adds  concerning  it  these  significant 
lines  (in  which,  as  in  one  or  two  places  later  on,  I  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  italicize  a  sentence)  :  — 

"  That  all  the  world  will  guess  I  have  written  the  article  does 
not  matter ;  yet  by  an  assumed  name  I  avoid  useless  scandal, 
which  would  inevitably  occur  if  I  put  my  own  name  as  signature. 
If  the  Jews  should  happen  unfortunately  to  treat  it  as  a  personal 
matter,  they  would  come  very  badly  off ;  for  I  am  not  in  the  least 
afraid,  even  if  M.  [Meyerbeer]  should  get  me  upbraided  with  his 
former  favors,  which,  in  such  a  case,  I  should  expose  in  their  true 
light.     But,  as  I  said,  I  do  not  wish  to  bring  about  a  scandal." 

1  His  usual  recklessness  where  the  issuing  of  his  own  works  is  con- 
cerned ;  for  he  had  no  money,  and  only  a  few  weeks  later  writes,  after 
hearing  that  Brendel  has  accepted  the  article  :  "  Will  he  pay  me  a  fee 
for  Das  Judenthum.?  Forgive  me  this  Jewish  question,  but  it  is  the 
very  fault  of  the  Jews  that  I  have  to  think  of  every  farthing  profit." 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  323 

He  begins  his  essay  by  stating  that  in  a  recent  article 
printed  in  the  Neue  Zeitschrift  fur  Musik  (written  by 
Uhlig),  a  reference  was  nia(U>  to  a  "  Hebrew  taste  in  art," 
and  this  leads  to  a  discussion  of  the  reasons  why  there 
exists  among  the  people  an  inner  aversion  to  the  Jews. 
Tlie  Jew  can  no  longer  complain  of  persecution  (in  Ger- 
many) :  he  has  had  his  emancipation,  religious  and  politi- 
cal, and  now  "  itisj(^ej,_xather,  who  have  to  light  the  Jews 
for  our  emancipation.  In  the  present  condition  of  affairs 
the  Jew  is  already  more  than  emancipated :  he  rules,  and 
will  rule,  as  long  as  money  remains  the  power  before 
which  all  our  doings  and  efforts  must  confess  their 
impotence."  Art  as- well  as  life  has  passed  under  the 
control  of  the  Jcavs,  and  this  is  what  principally  pro- 
vokes Wagner,  and  leads  him  to  repeat  the  question  why 
the  Jews  are  disliked  in  life,  and  why  we  ought  to  dislike 
their  art  and jeek  to  become  emancipated  from  it. 

In  the  first  place,  he  asserts,  the  Hebrews  are  not  great 
artists  by  nature.  In  none  of  the  arts  have  they  produced 
creators  of  the  first  rank.  They  have  no  national  art : 
the  fragments  of  old  Hebrew  music  preserved  in  syna- 
gogues are  a  mere  caricature,  and  they  show  by  their 
noisy  conduct  during  their  presentation  that  they  have 
no  respect  for  them.  They  have  not  even  a  common 
toiigue,  for  Hebrew  is  even  to  them  only  a  dead  language. 
And  here  we  come  upon  the  weak  point  of  tlie  Semitic 
mind.  The_  Jews  liave  no  country,  no  language,  no  home. 
They  are  to  be  found  everywhere,  but  always  as  stran- 
gers. They  adopt  the  laiiguage  of  tlie  country  they  live 
in,  but  never  speak  it  as  the  natives  do:  their  idiom 
remains  as  foreign  as  their  physiognomy.  Now  it  is 
well  known  that  no  one  has  ever  been  able  to  be  a  poet 


324  LITERARY  PERIOD 

in  a  language  which  is  not  his  idiomatically.  How  then 
could  we  expect  the  Jews  to  be  great  artists?  Having 
no  country  of  their  own,  and  no  true  sympathy  with  their 
adopted  country,  how  could  they  help  in  the  creation  of 
a  national  art?  How  can  we  expect  one  who  cannot  even 
speak  idiomatically  to  express  passion  correctly  and 
touchingly?  ■■/~~' 

And  yet,  he  continues,  "the  Jew,  who  by  himself  is 
incapable  of  making  an  artistic  impression  on  us,  either 
by  his  appearance,  or  his  language,  or,  least  of  all,  by  his 
song,  has  nevertheless  s.ucceeded  in  becoming  arbiter  of 
public  taste  in  music,  the  most  widely  cultivated  of 
modern  arts,"  and  the  very  language  of  passion.  How 
are  we  to  account  for  this  mystery?  Will  the  theory  of 
the  music-drama  explain  this  too?  No  doubt  whatever. 
The  music-drama,  with  Wagner,  explains  everything  in 
this  world,  if  not  beyond.  The  Jews  have  been  able  to 
succeed  in  jnusic  because  music  has  become  a  degenerate 
art.  That  is  the  whole  secret.  And  why  is  music  a 
degenerated  art  ?  Because,  with  Beethoven  it  reached  the 
limit  of  what  it  could  achieve  as  a  separate  art;  thereafter 
further  progre_ss_was_only  possible  in  the  music-drama. 
But  the  misgiiided  composers  persisted  in  writing  music 
for  music's  sake  alone,  and  this  paved  the  way  for  the 
J^w§.  After  Beethoven,  Wagner  insists,  with  ludicrous 
exaggeration,  music,  as  a  separate  art,  is  no  longer  a 
living  organism,  but  only  such  multiple  life  as  we  see  in 
a  corpse  devoured  by  worms.  In  such  a  condition  of 
affairs  anything  is  acceptable;  accordingly  Mendelssohn 
and  Meyerbeer  appear  on  the  scene :  — 

"Mendelssohn  has  shown  us  that  a  Jew  can  have  the  highest 
specific  talent,  possess  the  most  refined  and  varied  culture,  the 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  325 

most  exalted  and  delicate  sense  of  honor,  and  yet  be  unable,  with 
all  those  qualities,  to  make  on  us  even  once  such  soul-stirring 
impressions  as  we  expect  of  art,  knowing  that  it  is  capable  of 
them,  because  we  have  often  experienced  such  impressions,  when- 
ever a  true  hero  of  our  art  merely  opened  his  mouth,  as  it  were, 
to  address  us." 

Mendelssohn's  art,  he  continues,  does  not  succeed  in 
reproducing  true  passion ;  it  merely  pleases  our  ears  by 
its  smooth,  delicate  figurations,  as  a  kaleidoscope  pleases 
our  eyes.  It  lacks  unity  of  style,  is  unidiomatic,  like 
Jewish  speech,  borrows  from  heterogeneous  sources,  from 
Bach  to  Beethoven,  who  have  no  more  in  common  than 
an  Egyptian  sphynx  and  a  Greek  statue ;  hence  it  is  not 
the  highest  art ;  and  least  of  all  can  it  be  regarded  as  a 
further  evolution  of  music,  beyond  Beethoven,  as  some 
critics  would  have  us  believe. 

But  Mendelssohn,  he  continues,  has  moments  when  he 
is  really  characte^istrie-arrd-^^ue  in  feeling;  the  outcome, 
perhaps,  of  an  occasional  constriDusness  of  the  tragedy  of 
his  Semitic  position.  At  such  times  he  inspires  sym- 
pathy, which  no  other  Jewish  composer  does  in  a  similar 
degree.  Meyerbeer  is  a  composer  whose  function  was 
not  so  much  to  corrupt  popular  taste,  as  to  take  advan- 
tage of  a  taste  already  corrvipted  for  his  benefit.  His 
mission  is  to  drive  away  ennui,  and  for  his  purpose  he 
resorts  to  everything  that  is  piquant  and  tickles  an  audi- 
ence, going  from  trivialities  to  volcanic  outburst  of 
feeling,  and  gathering  his  wares  and  styles  from  all  parts 
of  the  Avorld. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  substance  of  Wagner's  notorious 

little  essay.     There  is  no  doubt  some  truth  in  all  his 

points,  and  about  an  equal  amount  of  error:  certainly 

y>  everything  is  exaggerated,  and  the  inevitable  iutroduc- 


326  LITERARY  PERIOD 

tion  (between  the  lines)  of  the  monopolistic  theory  of 
bhe  music-drama  as  the  only  salviition  for  music  gives 
it  a  touch  of  the  ludicrous.  That  the  fanatical  omni- 
presence of  this  idea  should  have  led  him  implicitly  to 
compare  not  only  Mendelssohn  and  Meyerbeer,  but  all 
composers  since  Beethoven,  to  worms  infesting  the  corpse 
of  absolute  music,  is  as  deplorable  and  farcical  as  his 
assertion  that  the  Jews  have  produced  no  really  great 
artists  is  absurd.  True,  they  have  given  the  world  none 
of  the  very  highest  rank  —  no  Shakespeare,  Bach, 
Phidias,  or  Titian;  but  in  the  second  rank  they  have 
contributed  more  than  their  share,  in  proportion  to  their 
numbers.  To  mention  only  the  one  to  whom  Wagner  also 
alludes :  Heine  is  not  only  the  greatest  lyric  poet  who 
has  used  the  German  language,  but  he  writes  both  in  prose 
and  verse  more  artistically  and  idiomatically  (except 
where  idiomatic  is  equivalent  to  clumsy  and  inelegant, 
as  it  often  is  in  German)  than  any  other  native  writer 
except  Goethe  and  Schopenhauer. 

That  the  prejudice  against  the  Jews,  of  which  Wagner 
speaks,  existed,  and  still  exists,  is,  of  course,  undeniable. 
Only  a  year  or  two  ago,  one  of  the  leading  Jewish  peri- 
odicals of  New  York,  the  American  Hebrew,  devoted  a 
special  issue  to  a  discussion  of  the  reasons  for  this  preju- 
dice, to  which  scores  of  well-known  writers  contributed, 
by  editorial  invitation.  Mr.  Carl  Schurz  pertinently 
gave  as  one  reason  tliat  whenever  a  Jew  behaves  vulgarly 
he  is  specially  noted  as  "a  Jew,"  whereas  whenever  a 
Christian  misbehaves  in  public  he  is  simply  referred 
to  as  a  vulgar  person,  and  not  as  "a  Christian." 

Where  did  Wagner  first  get  his  prejudice  against  Jews? 
In  his  childhood,  at  a  time  when  impressions  received 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  327 

are  apt  to  make  an  indelible,  life-long  impression.  Hes 
was  bornat  88  Briilil,  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Leipzig,  to 
which  he  often  referred  as  "  Jerusalem  " :  — 

"The  Polish  Jews  of  that  quarter,"  says  Praeger,  "traded 
principally  iii  furs,  from  the  cheapest  fur-liued  SchJafrock  to  the 
finest  and  most  costly  furs  used  by  royalty.  Their  strange  appear- 
ance, with  their  all-covering  gabardine,  high  boots,  and  large  fur 
caps,  worn  over  long  curls,  their  enormous  beards,  struck  Wagner, 
as  it  did  every  one,  and  does  still,  as  something  very  unpleasant 
and  disagreeable.  Their  peculiarly  strange  pronunciation  of  the 
German  language,  their  extravagantly  wild  gesticulations  when 
speaking,  seemed  to  his  aesthetic  mind  like  the  repulsive  move- 
ments of  a  galvanized  corpse  ;  .  .  .  crying  babes  were  speedily 
silenced  by  the  threat  '  The  Polish  Jew  is  coming  ! '  .  .  .  Strange 
to  say,  Wagner  had  imbibed  some  intuitive  dislike  to  the  Egyptian 
type  of  Hebrew,  and  never  entirely  overcame  that  feeling.  No 
amount  of  reasoning  could  obliterate  it  at  any  period  of  his  life, 
although  he  counted  among  his  most  devoted  friends  and  admirers 
a  great  many  of  the  oppressed  race." 

The  irony  of  fate  ordained,  moreover,  that  Wagner 
was  to  be  indebted  to  the  Jewish  race  for  no  less  an 
experience  than  his  first  love.  Although  he  has  made 
love  as  much  the  ruling  passion  in  his  dramas  as  most 
poets,  there  are  few  love  affairs  to  record  in  his  life, 
the  chief  reason  perhaps  being  that  he  married  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty -three.  Some  years  before  tliis^  when 
he  was  still  in  Leipzig,  he  had  met  a  lovely  young 
Jewess,  a  friend  of  his  sister  Louisa,  named  Leah  David, 
a  black-eyed  beauty  of  the  true  Oriental  type.  It  was  a 
case  of  love  at  first  sight,  and  Kichard  was  happy  to  bo 
allowed  to  visit  her  at  her  house,  fondle  her  dog,  and 
play  on  her  piano.  One  evening  he  Avas  disgusted  to 
find  a  cousin  of  his  love,  a  young  Dutchman,  in  the  par- 


328  LITERARY  PERIOD 

lor.  He  proved  to  be  a  clever  pianist,  whose  brilliant 
execution  won  him  applause  and  flattery.  This  evoked 
the  jealous  anger  of  Wagner,  who  criticised  his  playing 
as  being  deficient  in  expression.  Being  challenged  to 
do  better,  he  seated  himself  at  the  piano;  but  as  he  had 
never  mastered  the  technique  of  that  instrument,  the 
result  was  a  failure,  and  was  received  with  a  titter. 
The  rest  of  the  story  may  be  told  in  the  words  of  Prae- 
ger,  who  had  it  from  Richard  himself:  — 

"  Wagner  lost  his  temper.  Stung  in  his  tenderest  feelings  before 
the  Hebrew  maiden,  with  the  headlong  impetuosity  of  an  unthink- 
ing youth,  he  replied  in  such  violent,  rude  language,  that  a  dead 
silence  fell  upon  the  guests.  Then  Wagner  rushed  out  of  the 
room,  sought  his  cap,  took  leave  of  lago,  and  vowed  vengeance. 
He  waited  two  days,  upon  which,  having  received  no  communica- 
tion, he  returned  to  the  scene  of  the  quarrel.  To  his  indignation, 
he  was  refused  admittance.  The  next  morning  he  received  a  note 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  young  Jewess.  He  opened  it  feverishly. 
It  was  as  a  death  blow.  Fraulein  Leah  was  shortly  going  to  be 
married  to  the  hated  young  Dutchman,  Herr  Meyers,  and  hence- 
forth she  and  Eichard  were  to  be  strangers.  '  It  was  my  first  love- 
sorrow,  and  I  thought  I  should  never  forget  it,  but  after  all,'  said 
Wagner,  with  his  wonted  audacity,  '  I  think  I  cared  more  for  the 
dog  than  for  the  Jewess.'  " 

It  would  of  course  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  this 
disappointment  had  anything  to  do  with  his  later  anti- 
Semitic  sentiments.  But  the  early  impressions  in  "  Jeru- 
salem," and  the  use  of  Polish  Jews  as  bugaboos  in  his 
childhood,  doubtless  continued  to  color  his  thoughts  and 
to  account  partly  for  the  fact  that  uncomplimentary 
references  to  the  Jews  continue  to  appear  in  his  writings 
up  to  the  last  years  of  his  life.  But^the  motives^ which 
prompted  the  essay  on  Judaism  in  1850  were  purely 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  329 

musisaJ-  It  has  been  often  asserted  tliat  they  were  per- 
sonal —  that  he  was  jealous  of  the  success  of  Mendelssohn 
and  Meyerbeer,  and  therefore  abused  them  in  the  guise 
of  a  general  attack  on  Hebrew  art  and  character.  But 
this  is  an  unjust  criticism.  No  doubt  there  was  a  per- 
sonal element  in  Wagner's  wrath, — no  artist  could  pos- 
sibly feel  indifferent  to  the  excessive  popularity  of  his 
rivals,  whom  he  knew,  in  his  innermost  consciousness,  to 
be  his  inferiors,  while  his  own  works  were  ignored  or 
abused,  and  his  daily  bread  as  well  as  his  artistic  ideals 
were  involved  in  the  question ;  —  but  there  were  other 
and  nobler  motives  whicli  prompted  his  misguided  action 
—  patriotic  and  artistic  motives.  It  made  his  heart  bleed 
to  see  how  two  exotic  Jewish  composers,  not  of  the  first 
rank,  were  almost  monopolizing  concert-halls  and  opera- 
houses,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  German  classical  masters; 
and  it  caused  his  soul  the  deepest  anguish  to  see  how  his 
own  works,  more  inspired,  written  on  a  higher  level,  and 
purely  German,  were  neglected  by  his  countrymen.  Can 
we  blame  him  for  having  taken  up  the  cudgel  in  behalf 
of  German  classical  art  and  his  own  music-drama?  We 
all  know  now  that  Mendelssohn  and  Meyerbeer  were 
esteemed  beyond  their  merits  at  that  time;  that  their 
unparalleled  popularity  was  partly  a  fad,  partly  a  delu- 
sion, partly  the  result  of  superficial  taste.  And  shall  we 
blame  Wagner,  and  call  him  an  egotist,  because,  with 
the  superior  insight  and  foresight  of  genius,  he  knew  all 
this  forty  years  ago,  and  had  the  courage  to  say  it, 
regardless  of  consequences? 

What  these  consequences  were,  we  must  now  consider. 
In  the  first  place,  Editor  Brendel,  wlio  published  tlie  arti- 
cle on  Judaism  in  his  Neue  Zeitschrift,  came  near  having 


330  LITERARY  PERIOD 

his  head  chopped  off  for  this  bold  act.  He  was  professor 
of  musical  history  in  the  conservatory  of  Leipzig,  at 
that  time  Germany's  leading  music  school,  and  entirely 
under  the  control  of  Mendelssohn's  followers.  Natu- 
rally an  attack  on  the  music  of  their  chief  created  a  great 
commotion  among  the  professors  of  that  institution, 
including  Joachim,  David,  Becker,  Bohme,  Plaidy,  Rietz, 
Klengel,  Wenzel,  Hauptmann,  and  Moscheles.  A  docu- 
ment drawn  up  by  Rietz  (the  same  who  subsequently 
curtailed  and  maltreated  the  Lohengrin  score  so  unmerci- 
fully) was  signed  by  these  professors,  asking  the  imme- 
diate dismissal  of  Editor  Brendel  from  his  professorial 
chair.  The  conservatory  directors  refused  to  comply 
with  this  request,  and  Brendel  retained  his  post.  The 
secret  of  the  authorship  of  the  objectionable  article  also 
appears  to  have  been  maintained  for  some  time ;  rumor, 
however,  connected  Wagner's  name  with  it,  and  six 
months  later  (April  9,  1851)  Liszt  writes  to  him :  "  Can 
you  answer  me,  under  the  seal  of  absolute  secrecy,  the 
question :  was  the  famous  article  on  Judaism  in  Music  in 
Brendel's  paper  written  by  you?"  To  which  Wagner 
replies  promptly :  — 

"  Why  do  you  ask  me  in  regard  to  Judaism?  You  must  cer- 
tainly know  tliat  I  wrote  it :  wliy  this  question  ?  I  used  a  pseu- 
donym not  from  fear  of  consequences,  but  to  avoid  having  the 
Jews  make  a  purely  personal  matter  of  it.  I  had  long  harbored  a 
repressed  wrath  against  this  Jew  business,  and  this  wrath  is  as 
necessary  to  my  nature  as  gall  is  to  blood.  One  occasion  came  on 
which  their  accursed  scribbling  provoked  me  excessively,  and  so  at 
last  I  exploded :  it  appears  to  have  struck  in  terribly,  and  I  am 
glad  of  it,  for  such  a  shock  was  what  I  intended  to  give  them. 
That  they  will  remain  masters  of  the  situation  all  the  same  is  as 
certain  as  the  fact  that  not  our  princes  but  the  bankers  and  Philis- 
tines are  our  rulers." 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  331 

I  have  already  stated  that  Wagner  kept  up  a  running 
fire  of  comment  on  the  Jews,  and  their  relations  to  music 
and  society,  in  his  writings  up  to  his  last  days.  But  it 
was  in  1869,  more  than  eighteen  years  after  his  first 
article  on  this  topic,  that  matters  were  brought  to  a 
climax  by  the  publication  of  Judaism  in  Music  in  pam- 
phlet form,  together  with  a  new  and  more  elaborate  essay 
entitled  Elucidations  regarding  Judaism  in  Music.  This 
interesting  document  is  dated  Lucern,  New  Year's,  1869, 
and  appeared  first  in  the  form  of  an  open  letter  to 
Madame  Maria  INIuehanoff,  nee  Countess  Nesselrode,  who 
had  written  to  the  composer  for  an  explanation  of  the  ex- 
traordinary circumstance  that  the  press  of  that  time,  in 
France  and  England,  as  well  as  in  Germany,  was  so 
savagely  disposed  towards  all  liis  artistic  enterprises 
and  works.  Wagner's  reply  is  ingenious  and  seems  at 
first  sight  plausible.  He  traces  the  whole  trouble  back 
to  his  essay  on  Judaisyn  in  Mtisic.  He  repeats  that  his 
reason  for  the  adoption  of  a  pseudonym  was  simply  a 
desire  to  avoid  having  the  article  miss  its  intended  effect 
by  having  it  regarded  merely  as  a  personal  attack  on 
Mendelssohn  and  Meyerbeer  by  a  jealous  rival :  — 

"  For  this  reason  I  had  signed  tlie  article  with  the  words  '  Free 
Thought,'  an  obvious  pseudonym.  To  Brendel  I  had  communicated 
my  intentions  in  this  regard  ;  lie  was  courageous  enougli  to  let  the 
storm  descend  on  his  own  head  instead  of  saving  himself  at  once 
by  letting  it  descend  on  mine.  Soon  thereafter  there  were  signs 
and  unmistakable  evidence  that  I  had  been  recognized  as  the  au- 
thor: I  never  met  a  (juestion  in  regard  to  this  with  a  denial.  This 
was  enough  to  cause  a  complete  change  in  the  tactics." 

Up  to  this  time,  he  continues,  only  coarse  artillery 
had  been  brought  to  bear  against  the  article,  but  now  tlie 


I 

i 


332  LITERARY  PERIOD 

educated  Jews  took  hold  of  the  matter  and  managed  it 
with  their  peculiar,  practical  shrewdness.  The  edu- 
cated Jews  dislike  all  discussions  in  which  their  nation- 
ality is  involved  and  emphasized.  Their  object  was, 
therefore,  to  get  the  offensive  article  out  of  the  way  as 
quickly  as  possible.  But  the  insult  to  their  race  rankled 
fiercely  in  their  breasts,  and  their  vengeance  took  an 
indirect  form:  ignoring  the  real  casus  belli,  —  the  essay, 
—  they  forthwith  began  to  attack  its  author's  other 
writings,  especially  his  operas,  systematically  and  per- 
sistently. The  whole  German  press  being  practically  in 
the  hands  of  the  Jews,  the  result  was  a  formal  conspiracy 
against  a  composer  who  was  not  only  maliciously 
attacked,  but  actually  found  it  impossible,  on  one  occa- 
sion, to  get  his  remarks  on  the  Jew  Offenbach  into  a 
newspaper.  Even  Liszt  was  made  to  suffer  for  his 
friendship  with  Wagner,  who  traces  to  the  same  essay 
on  Judaism  the  reason  why,  up  to  1869,  it  had  been 
almost  impossible  to  get  a  friendly  notice  of  Liszt's 
compositions  into  a  German  paper.  In  Paris,  the  Meyer- 
beer faction  saw  to  it  that  no  favorable  notice  of  Wagner 
or  his  friend  could  get  into  the  press.  Li  London,  the 
press  demolished  him  because  he  would  not  worship  the 
English  idol,  Mendelssohn.  In  Vienna,  a  jurist  of  (con- 
cealed) Jewish  descent,  Dr.  Hanslick,  elaborated  a  system 
of  aesthetics  in  Avhich  Mendelssohn  is  recognized  as  the 
heir  of  Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven  —  the  climax  of 
the  series,  in  fact,  and  a  sort  of  corrector  of  the  "  aberra- 
tions "  in  the  later  Beethoven.  This  man,  as  critic  of 
the  leading  Vienna  paper,  became  the  head  of  the  oppo- 
sition, declared  Wagner's  works  utterly  worthless,  and 
set  the  fashion  in  this  direction  for  German  newspapers 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  333 

in  general.  "Nothing  more  was  talked  about  than  my 
contempt  for  all  great  composers,  my  enmity  to  melody, 
and  my  horrible  compositions  —  in  short,  the  '  music  of 
the  future ' ;  but  that  article  on  JudaLsm  in  Mxisic  was 
never  again  mentioned." 

This  "  Elucidation  "  is,  as  I  have  said,  ingenious,  and 
some  truth  there  is  no  doubt  in  it;  yet  I  believe  that 
Wagner  was  mistaken  in  attributing  the  opposition  to 
his  works  entirely,  or  even  largely,  to  the  hostile  feeling 
stirred  up  by  his  attacks  on  the  Jews,  especially  by  the 
first  attack,  which  attracted  but  little  attention  at  the 
time  of  its  publication.  The  opposition  to  his  works  had 
various  sources,  prominent  among  which  were  the  inabil- 
ity of  conductors  and  singers  to  interpret  them  correctly, 
and  the  slowness  of  hearers  (especially  critics)  in  assim- 
ilating not  only  new  music,  but  —  what  is  much  more 
difficult  (and  to  some  people  impossible)  —  mudc  in  a  new 
form.  In  regard  to  the  virulence  of  the  attacks  on  him, 
however,  Wagner  was  partly  right  in  liis  argument.  He 
was  attacked  by  the  critics  because  ne  had  criticised  or 
attacked  their  favorites  —  especially  Meyerbeer  and  Men- 
delssohn. But  these  composers  were  thus  savagely 
defended  and  avenged  because  they  were  fashionable 
idols,  and  not  because  they  were  Jews ;  for  among  their 
fanatic  worshippers  there  were  more  Christians  than 
Jews.  That  tliis  explanation  is  the  correct  one  is,  I 
think,  proved  by  the  fact  that  so  many  of  Wagner's  most 
ardent  friends  and  patrons  were  and  are  Jews.  His 
attacks  on  their  race  are  generally  condoned  as  a  freak 
of  genius.^     But  attacks  on  a  favorite  and  fashionable 

1  CatuUe  Mendes  tells  an  amusing  story  of  a  rich  Jewish  banker  at 
Pesth  who  hated  Wagner  for  his  essay,  but  worshipped  him  as  a  com- 


334  LITERARY  PERIOD 

composer  could  not  but  be  resented  by  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians alike.  Next  to  religious  comment  nothing  inflames 
the  passions  so  much  as  musical  discussion.  Now  that 
the  Mendelssohn-Meyerbeer  cult  has  died  out  (and,  in 
fact,  given  place  to  almost  as  undeserved  neglect,  as  far, 
at  least,  as  the  nobler  of  the  two,  Mendelssohn,  is  con- 
cerned), Jews  and  Christians  both  are  flocking  to  the 
Wagner  standard.  It  is  an  incontestable  fact  that  New 
York  could  not  have  enjoyed  seven  such  brilliant  and 
successful  seasons  of  German  opera  as  it  did  from  1884- 
1891,  had  it  not  been  for  the  liberal  patronage  of  the 
wealthy  Jews  of  that  city.  In  Berlin  the  leading  Wag- 
ner organ  has  for  many  years  been  the  Jewish  Boer  sen- 
Courier.  The  originator  of  the  Patronatsverein  for 
defraying  the  expenses  of  the  flrst  Bayreuth  festival  was 
the  enthusiastic  Jewish  Wagnerite  and  pianist,  Carl 
Tausig;  and  among  AYagner's  other  personal  friends 
there  were  many  Jews  —  men  and  women  who  were 
intelligent  enough  to  see  that  his  tirades  were  directed 
against  certain  disagreeable  general  traits  of  their  na- 
tion, and  therefore  not  applicable  to  individuals  who 
were  free  from  those  traits.  And  this  is  a  point  on 
which  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid.  Again  and 
again  Wagner  dwells  on  the  fact  that  nothing  could  have 
been  farther  from  his  intentions  than  a  desire  to  hurt 
any  one's  feelings.  His  great  enthusiasm  for  his  idea 
(to  use  his  own  words,  V,  3)  caused  him  to  "  forget  all 
regard  for  personal  considerations'*  —  a  characteristic  of 
men  of  genius,  by  the  way,  which  ordinary  individuals, 
who  are  never  guided  by  other  than  personal  motives, 

poser.  By  way  of  expressing  his  mixed  feelings  he  had  a  statue  of  him 
in  his  parlor,  with  a  laurel  wreath  on  his  head  and  a  rope  around  his 
neck. 


JUDAISM  7iV  MUSIC  335 

find  it  very  difficult  to  comprehend.  In  a  letter  dated 
iSIarch  10,  1851,  Wagner,  apprehensive  of  the  personal 
interpretation  that  might  be  given  to  his  Opera  and 
Drama,  begs  Uhlig  to  cancel  certain  sentences,  adding:  — 

"  It  would  be  terrible  if  the  book  should  come  to  be  looked  upon 
simply  as  an  attack  on  Meyerbeer.  I  wish  I  could  withdraw  still 
much  of  this  kind.  When  I  read  it,  the  mockery  never  sounds 
venomous  ;  but  if  others  read  it,  I  may  often  seem  to  them  an  ill- 
tempered,  sour-minded  uidividual,  and  this  I  would  not  appear  to 
be,  even  to  my  enemies." 

It  was  this  treatise  —  the  first  part  of  Oj)er  U7id  Drama 
—  that  was,  in  my  opinion,  responsible  for  the  flood  of 
hostile  newspaper  criticism  that  overwhelmed  Wagner 
from  this  time  on,  and  which  he  erroneously  attributed 
to  the  Judaism  essay.  In  Oj^er  iind  Drama  he  "  scored  " 
not  only  Mej^erbeer,  but  another  popular  idol  of  the  hour, 
Eossini,  and  pointed  out  weaknesses  in  others  still,  who 
had  (since  their  death)  been  considered  exalted  above  criti- 
cism: hinc  iilai  lacrymoi  —  that  was  the  cause  of  the  row. 

Meyerbeer.  —  Critics  Avhose  minds  are  too  philistine  to 
rise  above  personal  considerations  have  accused  Wagner 
innumerable  times  of  "  gross  ingratitude  "  toward  Meyer- 
beer, becatise,  after  receiving  favors  from  him,  he 
attacked  his  works.  The  charge  is  an  old  story  in  the 
record  of  human  thought,  and  has  been  answered  delight- 
fully for  all  times  in  the  words  ''Amicus  Plato,  Amicus 
Socrates,  sed  magis  amica  Veritas."  Dr.  Hanslick  is  one 
of  the  critics  just  referred  to.  In  his  book  Musikalisches 
und  Liter arisches,  1892,  he  puts  the  "  ingratitude  "  objec- 
tion in  this  form :  — 

"  Hesitating,  nervous  individuals  like  Meyerbeer  are  usually 
very  sensitive.     The  creator  of  the  Huguenots  felt  every  sting  of 


336  LITERARY  PERIOD 

criticism  acutely.  Most  of  all  was  he  hurt  by  the  contemptuous 
verdict  of  Richard  Wagner,  whom  he  had  protected  and  assisted  in 
his  days  of  need.  The  question  of  personal  gratitude  need  not  be, 
considered  here  at  all,  and  we  may  even  admit  that  one  may  receive 
benefits  from  a  friend  and  yet  consider  his  works  bad.  But  I  be- 
lieve that  the  consciousness  of  favors  received  should  of  its  own 
accord  impose  resti-aint  and  measure  in  the  public  expression  of 
censure  on  any  not  entirely  hardened  mind.  All  the  more  when  it 
is  not  a  question  of  defence,  but  an  a,ttiiGk provoked  by  no  necessity.''^ 

In  spite  of  Dr.  Hauslick's  waiving  the  question  of 
"personal  gratitude,"  the  personal  aspect  of  this  objec- 
tion has  never  been  so  nakedly  exposed  as  here.  The 
substance  of  his  argument  is :  "  Meyerbeer  did  not  attack 
Wagner  personally,  therefore  it  was  mean  for  Wagner  to 
attack  him ;  there  was  no  necessity  for  it."  That  there  can 
be  such  a  thing  as  an  ideal,  artistic  necessity,  springing 
from  no  personal  grudge,  but  a  desire  to  reform  abuses, 
is  a  thing  which  a  mind  of  Dr.  Hanslick's  calibre  cannot 
grasp.  If  he  could  have  grasped  it,  he  would  have  seen 
that  Wagner  completely  and  most  eloquently  answered 
his  objection  more  than  forty  years  ago,  in  this  passage 
from  the  preface  to  Opera  and  Drama :  — 

"  I  do  not  deny  that  I  struggled  long  with  myself,  before  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  what  I  did,  and  the  way  in  which  I  did  it.  Every- 
thing contained  in  this  attack  [on  Meyerbeer]  I  have  read  over 
again  calmly,  considering  every  phrase,  and  weighing  carefully  if  I 
should  give  it  to  the  public,  until  I  finally  convinced  myself  that, 
in  consideration  of  my  extremely  decided  and  incisive  opinions  on 
this  important  matter,  I  would  merely  show  cowardice  and  an 
unworthy  regard  for  possible  consequences  to  myself,  if  I  did  not 
express  myself  just  as  I  have  done  in  regard  to  that  most  dazzling 
phenomenon  in  the  modern  operatic  world.  What  I  say  about  it 
is  a  point  on  which  most  honest  artists  have  long  ceased  to  enter- 
tain any  doubt ;  but  the  thing  that  bears  fruit  is  not  concealed 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  337 

wrath,  but  an  open  declaration  and  definite  motivation  of  hostility  ; 
for  that  produces  the  necessary  explosion  which  purifies  the  ele- 
ments, separates  the  pure  from  the  impure,  and  sifts  what  there  is 
to  sift.  It  was  not  my  intention  to  create  this  enmity  for  its  own 
sake,  but  I  was  compelled  to  create  it,  because,  after  expressing 
my  views  abstractly,  I  felt  the  necessity  of  giving  them  a  particular 
application  to  individual  cases  ;  my  aim  is  not  merely  to  suggest 
truth,  but  also  to  make  myself  clearly  understood.  To  make  myself 
thus  understood  I  was  obliged  to  point  a  finger  at  the  most  illustra- 
tive phenomena  in  our  art ;  but  this  finger  I  could  not  withdraw 
and  put  with  the  fist  in  my  pocket  as  soon  as  I  came  upon  the  par- 
ticular phenomenon  which  most  clearly  illustrates  the  error  in  art 
which  we  must  combat,  and  which,  the  more  brilliant  it  appears, 
dazzles  all  the  more  the  eyes  which  mu,st  see  with  perfect  clearness, 
if  they  are  not  to  become  blind  altogether.  Consequently,  if  I  had 
observed  a  reticent  regard  for  this  one  person,  I  could  either  not  at 
all  have  undertaken  this  work,  to  which  my  convictions  impelled 
me,  or  I  would  have  been  obliged  to  weaken  its  effect  intention- 
ally ;  for  I  would  have  had  to  consciously  conceal  the  most  evident 
and  most  significant  points." 

Wagner  did  not  entirely  condemn  Meyerbeer.  True, 
he  says  (V.  376):  "Meyerbeer's  music  is  characterized 
by  such  frightful  hollowness,  shallowness,  and  artistic 
emptiness,  that  we  feel  inclined  to  place  his  specific 
musical  endowment  —  especially  as  compared  with  the 
majority  of  contemporary  composers  —  on  the  zero  line." 
But  that  this  was  not  a  sober  criticism,  but  merely  a 
momentary  ebullition  of  artistic  indignation,  is  shown 
on  the  very  next  page  of  Oper  und  Drama,  where  he  pays 
this  enthusiastic  tribute  to  Meyerbeer's  genius,  pointing 
out  how,  in  certain  instances, 

"he  can  readily  find  the  richest,  noblest,  and  most  soul-stirring 
musical  expression.  I  recall  here  especially  some  passages  in  the 
well-known  scene  of  love  and  anguish  in  the  fourth  act  of  the  IIu- 


338  LITERARY  PERIOD 

guenots,  and  above  all,  the  wonderfully  touching  melody  in  G  flat 
major,  which,  sprouting  like  a  flower  from  a  dramatic  situation 
that  makes  every  tibre  of  the  human  heart  vibrate  with  a  voluptu- 
ous thrill,  is  a  passage  to  which  few  things  in  music,  and  only  the 
most  perfect,  are  comparable.  I  emphasize  this  pomt  with  the 
sincerest  joy,  and  genuine  enthusiasm, ^  because  it  shows,"  etc. 

When  Wagner  says  that  "most  honest  artists  have 
long  ceased  to  entertain  any  donbt "  regarding  the  vicious 
features  of  Meyerbeer's  art  which  he  exposes,  he  speaks 
the  absolute  truth:  one  of  the  most  suggestive  differ- 
ences between  Meyerbeer  and  Wagner  is  that  whereas 
Wagner^  s  genius  was  recognized  first  by  other  men  of  genius, 
it  was  other  men  of  genius  ivho  first  condemned  Meyer- 
beer. After  Meyerbeer  had  returned  from  Italy,  where 
he  had  learned  to  copy  the  cheap  tricks  of  Rossini, 
Weber,  after  conducting  his  latest  opera,  the  product  of 
this  new  schooling,  at  Dresden,  wrote :  — 

"My  heart  bleeds  when  I  see  how  a  German  artist,  endowed 
with  creative  power  of  his  own,  degrades  himself  to  the  level  of  an 
imitator,  merely  for  the  sake  of  applause.  Is  it  then  so  very  diffi- 
cult, I  will  not  say  to  despise  the  applause  of  the  moment,  but  at 
least  not  to  make  it  one's  highest  aim  ?  " 

Rossini  himself,  as  well  as  Spontini,  disliked  Meyer- 
beer, the  former  perhaps  because  Meyerbeer  surpassed 
him  in  his  own  line,  by  not  only  picking  up  in  Italy  what- 
ever was  most  likely  to  tickle  audiences  for  a  moment, 
but  gathering  his  ear-ticklers  also  in  German  and  French 

1  It  is  characteristic  of  the  tactics  and  the  literary  ethics  of  Wag- 
ner's enemies  that  Dr.  Hanslick,  in  the  essay  just  referred  to,  cites 
Wagner's  words  about  Meyerbeer's  endowment  being  equal  to  zero,  but 
preserves  absolute  silence  regarding  the  modifying  passage  just  quoted, 
thus  giving  his  readers,  as  usual,  a  totally  distorted  view  of  Wagner's 
real  opinions. 


JUDAISM  IN  AIUSIC  339 

markets  —  Italian  florid  song,  instrumental  solos,  Ger- 
man counterpoint  (occasionally,  for  eiiect),  French  dances, 
and  scenic  titbits,  etc.,  —  making  a  musical  variety  show, 
or  what  Wagner  wittily  called  a  musical  "  Mosaic."  The 
amiable  Schumann  abused  Meyerbeer  more  venomously 
than  ever  Wagner  did,  and  even  Mendelssohn,  a  Jew  him- 
self, expressed  his  dislike  of  Meyerbeer's  operas.  Liszt, 
in  speaking  of  some  of  Meyerbeer's  cheap  effects,  uses 
the  expression  gold-dust,  which  admirably  characterizes 
them.  The  public  is  gradually  learning  to  distinguish 
between  Meyerbeer's  gilded  wood  and  Wagner's  solid 
gold,  and  statistics  reveal  the  significant  fact  that  every- 
where Meyerbeer's  popularity  wanes  in  the  same  propor- 
tion as  Wagner's  groAvs. 

The  more  we  reflect  on  this  whole  question  of  Meyer- 
beer and  Judaism,  the  more  we  become  convinced  that 
while  Wagner  cannot  be  acquitted  of  the  charge  of 
exaggeration,  partial  error,  and  imprudence,  he  only 
showed  the  true  nobility  of  his  artistic  character  by  not 
allowing  a  feeling  of  "  gratitude  "  to  override  his  judg- 
ment and  his  love  of  art.  Nor  is  this  all:  Wagner's 
indebtedness  to  Meyerbeer  has  been  greatly  overesti- 
mated. Although  we  have  alluded  to  this  matter  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  we  must  return  to  it  here  because  it  is 
of  such  great  importance  in  forming  a  just  estimate  of 
Wagner's  character.  His  own  oi)inion  was  that  Meyer- 
beer had  not  helped  liim  on  in  his  artistic  career.  He 
failed  to  do  anything  for  him  in  Paris,  although  he 
was  the  most  influential  musician  there;  he  commended 
Rienzi  to  the  Dresden  intendant,  but  it  was  not  accepted 
till  long  thereafter,  and  even  then  chiefly  owing  to 
the  intercession  of  Chorus-conductor  Fischer,  and  the 


340  LITERARY  PERIOD 

famous  tenor  Tichatscliek ;  while  Berlin,  where  Meyer- 
beer's influence  was  as  great  as  in  Paris,  was  one  of  the 
last  cities  in  Germany  to  encourage  Wagner  as  an  opera- 
composer.  There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  Wagner's  letters 
to  Liszt  (No.  59)  in  which  he  says  that  he  does  not  hate 
Meyerbeer,  but  feels  a  boundless  aversion  to  him,  and 
speaks  of  "the  time  when  he  still  made  a  pretence  of 
protecting  me,"  and  of  "the  intentional  impotence  of 
his  kindness  to  me  " ;  which  letter  I  advise  the  reader  to 
peruse  here,  as  it  is  too  long  to  quote.  ^ 

One  more  important  point  remains  to  be  considered  — 
important  because  it  involves  the  question  of  Wagner's 
honesty.  Dr.  Hanslick  in  the  article  referred  to  above, 
tries,  with  his  usual  "method,"  to  convey  to  his  readers 
the  impression  that  Wagner  was  dishonestly  inconsistent 
in  his  treatment  of  Meyerbeer.  He  bases  this  accusation 
on  a  recently  discovered  manuscript  of  Wagner's,  dated 
1842,  in  which  Meyerbeer  is  lauded  to  the  skies  as  a  true 
German,  a  genuine  successor  of  Handel,  Gluck,  and 
Mozart,  an  artist  with  immaculate  conscience,  who  beat 
the  Italians  on  their  own  ground,  and  whose  style  rises 
to  real  classical  dignity.     Upon  this  Dr.  Hanslick  com- 

1  Compare  with  this  what  Wagner's  friend  Praeger  says  (p.  216) : 
"  I  frankly  admit,  ^\nth  an  intimate  acquaintance  of  Wagner's  feelings 
regarding  Meyerbeer,  that  he  despised  the  'mountebank,'  hating  cor- 
dially the  thousand  commercial  incidents  Meyerbeer  associated  with 
the  production  of  his  works.  Schlesinger  told  me  indeed  of  well- 
authenticated  instances  where  Meyerbeer  had  gone  so  far  as  to  con- 
ciliate the  mistresses  of  critics  to  secure  a  favorable  verdict."  It  is 
also  well  known  that  he  asked  the  advice  of  the  chief  of  the  clacque 
regarding  the  probable  effectiveness  of  certain  passages  in  his  operas. 
With  this  compare  the  policy  of  Wagner,  who  was  willing  to  wait 
flfteen  years  after  Lohengrin  before  bringing  out  a  new  opera,  rather 
than  make  the  slightest  concession  to  fashionable  "taste  "  and  "  criti- 
cism "  —  and  then  judge  for  yourself  whether  he  was  not  right  in  claim- 
ing that  he  was  the  "  opposite  "  of  Meyerbeer  as  an  artist  and  a  man. 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  341 

ments :  "  We  stand  here  before  a  riddle,  and  not  a  pleas- 
ant one."  "The  possessor  of  this  precious  autograph, 
Herr  Leo  Lipmannssohn  in  Berlin,  has  wisely  had  it 
printed  before  its  sale  at  public  auction,  lest  it  might  be 
secretly  bought  by  a  friend  and  destroyed  unnoticed." 
The  change  from  these  early  sentiments  on  Meyerbeer  to 
the  later  severe  opinions,  Hanslick  intimates,  was  caused 
by  the  fact  that  "  Wagner  wished  to  be  considered  not 
only  the  greatest  but  the  only  tone-poet  of  the  time." 

Now  Dr.  Hanslick  is  so  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
facls  of  Wagner's  life  that  he  even  knows  aiidTi-ecords  the 
minute  changes  in  his  early  essays  when  they  were 
reprinted  in  later  years.  Iti§_noti  likely  therefore  that 
he  was  ignorant  of  the  facts  here  to  be  presented.  Tt 
has  been  shown  in  preceding  pages  that  Wagner's  opin- 
ions  on  music  —  especially  on  operatic  music — under- 
went  a  gradual  change  and  evolution.  In  his  first  Paris 
period  he  still  placed  instrumental  music  above  the 
opera  (I.  193).  In  1834 lie  wrote  an  article  on  Oerman 
Opera,  m  which  he  denies  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
G^l'mu.li  opera;  abuses  Weber;  says  the  Germans  do  not 
know  how  to  write  for  the  voice,  and  that  for  genuinely 
spontaneous  operatic  music  we  must  go  to  Bellini!  In 
1837  he  wrote  an  article  on  Bellini,^  in  which  he  promul- 
gated similar  views.  In  the  same  year  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  Meyerbeer  in  which  he  says  that  he  was  induced  to 
devote  himself  to  music  about  the  age  of  eighteen:  — 

"  A  passionate  adoration  of  Beethoven  impelled  me  to  this  step  — 
a  devotion  which  gave  my  first  productive  efforts  an  extremely  one- 
sided direction.  In  the  meantime,  and  especially  since  I  have 
entered  practical  life,  my  views  on  the  present  condition  of  music, 

1  See  these  articles  iu  Kiirschuer's  Wagner  Jahrhuch,  1886,  pp.  376-9, 
3«l-2,  478. 


34-2  LITERARY  PERIOD 

csijecially  dramatic  music,  have  undergone  a  considerable  change, 
and  shall  I  deny  that  it  was  your  works  above  all  which  indicated 
to  me  this  new  direction  ?  " 

That  this  statement  was  made  in  perfect  sincerity  (imi- 
tation is  the  sincerest  form  of  flattery)  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  in  the  following  year  (1838)  he  commenced  the 
composition  of  Rienzi,  which,  by  his  own  admission  (VII. 
159),  is  modelled  after  the  grand  opera  of  Meyerbeer, 
Auber,  and  Halevy.  This  opera  was  not  completed  till 
1840,  and  its  first  performance  was  in  1842,  the  year  in 
which  was  written  (but  not  printed)  the  favorable  notice 
on  Meyerbeer  concerning  which  Dr.  Hanslick  makes  his 
contemptible  insinuations.  Wagner's  articles  against 
Meyerbeer  were  not  written  till  seven  years  later;  in 
1842  he  had  some  indirect  reason  to  feel  "  grateful "  to 
Meyerbeer,  his  model  for  Rienzi,  his  first  success.  In 
such  a  moment  of  grateful  feeling  he  probably  wrote 
that  article ;  but  the  fact  that  he  did  not  print  it  speaks 
for  itself.  His  mind  was  then  growing  in  a  new  direc- 
tion with  giant  strides,  and  he  soon,  therefore,  began  to 
harbor  doubts  regarding  the  solidity  of  Meyerbeer's  art, 
which  in  course  of  the  next  seven  years  grew  into  such 
a  strong  conviction  in  his  mind.  These  are  the  simple 
facts  of  the  case,  fortified  in  each  detail  by  documents 
and  dates ;  and  with  these  facts  before  him,  I  leave  it  to 
the  reader  to  decide  whether  it  is  Wagner  or  his  venom- 
ous critic  who  is  disgraced  by  this  early  laudatory  manu- 
script on  Meyerbeer.^  "We  stand  here  before  a  riddle, 
and  not  a  pleasant  one." 

1  What  did  Meyerbeer  think  of  "Wagner?  Dr.  Hanslick  (I.e.)  states 
that  in  184G  he  put  the  question  to  Meyerljeer,  who  replied  simply,  "  His 
operas  find  much /«for,"  and  immediately  changed  the  subject.    In  a 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  34S 

Mendelssohn.  —  In  the  same  year  when  this  essay  on 
Meyerbeer  was  written,  Wagner  one  day  entered  the 
house  of  JNIendelssohUj  who  was  just  trying  over  a  new 
sonata  with  the  distinguished  violoncellist,  Servais. 
Wagner  stood  in  a  corner  for  a  while,  and  then  departed 
without  having  said  a  word.  "  0  that's  an  Original  — 
but  he  will  make  the  world  talk  of  him,"  exclaimed 
Mendelssohn.^  The  world  soon  did  talk  about  Wagner, 
more  than  Mendelssohn  perhaps  had  expected.  Mendels- 
sohn, the  pet  child  of  fashion,  could  not  brook  a  rival. 
"Personally  he  was  very  amiable;  at  social  gatherings, 
however,  he  demanded,  with  noticeable  vanity,  that 
everything  should  centre  in  him,  and  he  was  in  a  bad 
humor  if  any  one  else  attracted  attention"  (JahrbucJi, 
1886,  p.  76).  In  a  letter  to  Schubring  (1835)  he  com- 
plains that  "there  are  so  few  musicians  whom  I  could 
and  would  like  to  call  friends;  this  often  makes  me  sad." 
This  self -diagnosis  was  correct.  He  did  not  care  for  any 
one  of  his  really  great  contemporaries;  his  friends  were 
his  imitators  and  worshippers  —  second  and  third  rate 
musicians.  He  sneered  at  Chopin  (Chopinetto),  detested 
Liszt  and  Berlioz  (whom  he  calls  "  a  perfect  caricature 
without  one  spark  of  talent"),  never  had  a  kind  word 
even  for  Schumann,  who  often  wrote  about  Jmn  so  appre- 
ciatively. Small  Avonder  that  he  did  not  like  Wagner; 
that  he  refused  to  produce  his  early  symphony ;  that  he 

footnote  to  Warjner  Juf/^  en  France  (p.  33)  we  read:  "  M.  Blaze  de 
Bury  relates  that  a  sinr/le  name  had  the  privilege  of  exasperating 
Meyerbeer,  that  of  R.  Wur/ner :  '  he  could  not  hear  it  pronounced  with- 
out immediately  expto'icncing  a  disagreeable  sensation,  which,  l)esidcs, 
he  did  not  jiive  liimscll  tlic  trouble  to  conceal,  —  he  who  was  usually  so 
discerning,  so  clever  in  discovering  with  a  microscope  any  oue's  quali- 
ties '  (Meyerbeer  et  son  Temps)." 
1  Kastner  Wayner-Kutalog,  p.  14. 


344  LITERARY  PERIOD 

conducted  the  Tannhduser  overture  as  a  "  warning  exam- 
ple, "  and  consoled  Wagner  ct  projjos  of  the  Dutchman  in 
Dresden,  with  the  remark  that  he  ought  to  be  satisfied, 
since,  after  all,  it  hadn't  been  a  "  complete  fiasco !  " 

Time  has  shown  that  Mendelssohn  was  a  poor  judge 
of  musical  genius,  while  Wagner's  verdict  on  other  com- 
posers has  been  borne  out  in  almost  every  detail.  He 
said  that  Mendelssohn  had  been  able  to  gain  such  great 
popularity  largely  because  the  masters  preceding  him 
had  so  thoroughly  developed  the  materials  of  music  that 
it  had  been  made  easy  for  any  one  to  talk  agreeably  in 
that  language.  To-day  we  all  know  that  most  of  Men- 
delssohn's works  are  musical  "small-talk,"  and  that  it 
was  his  pleasant  way  of  saying  nothing  that  made  peo- 
ple think  these  nothings  so  "beautiful  in  form,"  Wag- 
ner censured  him  for  his  wrong  way  of  conducting 
Beethoven  and  other  composers:  to-day  the  greatest 
conductors  —  Dr.  Hans  von  Biilow,  Hans  Richter,  Anton 
Seidl,  Arthur  Nikisch,  etc.  —  conduct  Beethoven  A  la 
Wagner.  And  so  on.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be 
distinctly  remembered  that  Wagner  did  not  entirely 
condemn  Mendelssohn.  He  admitted,  as  we  have  seen, 
that  he  had  "a  specific  musical  endowment  equalled  by 
few  other  musicians  before  him. "  While  condemning  his 
Antigone  music  as  undramatic  and  utterly  incongruous 
to  its  subject  ("c'est  de  la  Bevliner  Liedertafel,''  Spon- 
tini  said  of  it),  he  calls  the  Hebrides  overture  "one  of 
the  most  beautiful  pieces  we  possess  "  (X.  197).  To  Mr. 
Dannreuther  he  remarked  ^  concerning  this  overture :  — 

"  Wonderful  imagination  and  delicate  feeling  are  here  presented 
with  consummate  art.     Note  the  extraordinary  beauty  of  the  pas- 

1  Grove's  Dictionary,  IV.  369. 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  346 

sage  where  the  oboes  rise  above  the  other  instruments  with  a  plain- 
tive wail,  like  sea- winds  over  the  seas.  Calm  Sea  and  Prosperous 
Voyage  is  also  beautiful ;  and  I  am  very  fond  of  the  first  move- 
ment of  the  Scotch  symphony.  No  one  can  blame  a  composer  for 
using  national  melodies  when  he  treats  them  so  artistically  as 
Mendelssohn  has  done  in  the  Scherzo  of  this  symphony.  His 
second  themes,  his  slow  movements  generally,  where  the  human 
element  comes  in,  are  weaker.  As  regards  the  overture  to  A  Mid- 
summer XighVs  Dream,  it  must  be  taken  into  account  that  he 
wrote  it  at  seventeen  ;  and  how  finished  the  form  is  already  !  "  etc. 

Rubinstein.  —  There  is  another  famous  Jewish  com- 
poser concerning  whom  it  would  have  been  interesting 
to  have  Wagner's  opinion;  but  it  is  not  on  record,  so  far 
as  I  know,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  Wagner  had  opportunity 
to  form  a  just  estimate  of  Rubinstein's  symphonies  and 
operas.  Rubinstein,  on  his  part,  has  not  failed  to  give 
the  world  his  opinion  of  Wagner,  which  is  contained  in 
his  little  book  Die  Musik  und  ihre  Meister  (1891),  pp. 
95-104.  He  begins  by  stating  that  in  1845-6  he  was  at 
Mendelssohn's  house  one  day  and  found  the  Tannhduser 
score  open  on  the  piano.  To  the  question  what  he 
thought  of  that  opera,  Mendelssohn  replied:  "A  man 
who  writes  both  the  text  and  the  music  of  his  operas  is 
at  any  rate  not  an  ordinary  man."  Upon  which  Rubin- 
stein comments,  "  Yes,  not  an  ordinary  man  .  .  .  highly 
interesting,  very  valuable,  but  beautiful  or  great,  deep 
or  high,  in  a  specific  musical  sense,  he  is  not."  Where- 
upon lie  proceeds  to  make  mincemeat  of  all  his  works 
(except  Lohengrin,  Die  Meistersincjer,  and  the  Faust  over- 
ture, which  he  likes)  in  very  much  the  same  style  that 
the  great  Jahn  brought  to  bear,  half  a  century  ago,  on 
Lohengrin!  All  this  time,  according  to  Rubinstein, 
mankind  has  admitted  Wagner's  genius  merely  because 


346  LITERARY  PERIOD 

it  has  so  often  been  reproached  with  having  ignored  con- 
temporary men  of  genius  that  it  was  afraid  to  make  the 
same  mistake  again,  and  so  it  idolized  Wagner!!!  Poor 
Rubinstein!  The  world  has  treated  him  so  badly  as  a 
composer,  that  he  can  hardly  be  expected  to  have  pre- 
served his  sense  of  humor  if  he  ever  had  any.  But  the 
Eussian  lion  is  at  least  bold.  In  spite  of  ^schylus  and 
the  other  Greek  dramatists,  he  asserts  that  a  myth  can 
be  "  an  interesting  and  poetic  theatre-piece,  but  never  a 
drama  "  (96) !  Wagner's  use  of  Leading  Motives  is  "  such 
a  naive  proceeding  that  it  produces  a  comic  effect  and 
can  claim  no  serious  meaning  "  I  The  exclusion  of  arias 
is  a  mistake,  he  continues.  Even  the  orchestra  is  all 
wrong,  because  it  diminishes  the  interest  in  the  vocal 
part!  An  invisible  orchestra  is  "simply  unendurable"! 
A  darkened  auditorium  benefits  only  the  manager,  whose 
gas  bill  it  reduces !  The  persons  in  Wagner's  dramas  are 
never  dramatic  (p.  102).  "  His  melody  never  characterizes 
the  musical  thought  or  person  " !  His  orchestration  is 
"deficient  in  economy  and  variety  of  shading"!  And 
besides,  Wagner  isn't  nearly  as  interesting  as  Berlioz, 
anyhow,  because  the  latter  appeared  at  once  as  an 
innovator,  and  did  not  become  one,  like  Wagner ! 

If  Wagner  had  lived  to  read  these  unintentionally 
comic  lucubrations  of  Rubinstein,  he  would  have  doubt- 
less smiled  and  pointed  at  them  as  an  interesting  and 
amusing  confirmation  of  the  views  promulgated  in  his 
essay  on  Judaism  in  Music.  And  Rubinstein  is  as 
undramatic  in  his  operas  as  in  his  opinions;  which  is 
the  reason  why  all  of  his  operas  —  full  of  delicious  mel- 
ody though  they  are  —  have  failed  to  win  a  permanent 
success.     Had   he   had   genuine   dramatic   instincts,  he 


JUDAISM  IN  MUSIC  347 

■would  have  learned  from  Wagner,  as  Wagner  learned 
from  Weber  and  other  great  predecessors,  and  his  fate 
would  have  been  different.  To  have  written  as  many 
operas  as  Wagner,  to  see  all  of  Wagner's  regularly  on 
every  repertory  and  none  of  his  own  on  any  (outside  of 
Russia,  where  one  or  two  have  become  popular),  is 
enough  to  sour  any  man.  But  the  public  exhibition  of 
this  sour  face,  distorted  by  impotent,  jealous  rage,  is  a 
melancholy  close  to  the  career  of  a  great  artist;  a  musi- 
cian whose  compositions  deserve  very  much  more  atten- 
tion than  his  contemporaries  have  given  them,  and  whose 
"Dramatic"  and  "Ocean"  symphonies  —  like  the  works 
of  Dvorak,  Grieg,  and  Tchaikovsky  —  go  far  to  disprove 
Wagner's  absurd  assertion  that  pure  instrumental  music 
had  reached  its  highest  possible  development  in  Beetho- 
ven, and  come  to  an  end  with  him.  Unfortunately  for 
Rubinstein,  his  supremely  silly  "  criticisms  "  on  Wagner 
have  injured  himself  a  thousand  times  more  than  his 
intended  victim;  they  have  shown  him  to  possess  a 
petty,  jealous  character;  and  they  have  alienated  from 
him  the  sympathy  of  many  who  had  previously  worked 
hard  for  the  popularization  of  his  music. 


WELDING   THE   NIBELUNG'S   RING 

HOW   THE   POEM   WAS   WKITTEN 

The  first  three  years  following  his  flight  from  Dresden, 
Wagner  devoted  chiefly  to  the  writing  of  the  literary 
works  considered  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  a  few 
minor  essays,  amid  some  interruptions  which  we  shall 
narrate  later  on.  Three  more  full  years  were  to  elapse 
before  he  began  to  compose  again ;  but  these  last  literary 
years  were  at  any  rate  largely  devoted  to  creative  art- 
work instead  of  art-criticism ;  namely,  to  the  conception 
and  execution  of  the  Nibelung  poem,  in  its  four  parts. 

The  curious  circumstance  has  long  been  known  that 
while  the  music  of  Rheingold,  Walkiire,  Siegfried,  and 
Gotterddmmerung  was  composed  in  the  proper  order  here 
given,  the  poems  were  written  in  inverse  order.  The 
last-named  drama  was  written  first,  under  the  name  of 
/Siegfried's  Death  and  in  a  somewhat  different  shape; 
then  came  Siegfried  (originally  Young  Siegfried,  and  dif- 
fering in  details  from  the  later  drama),  followed  by  the 
Walkiire  and  finally  Rheingold.  The  details  of  this  liter- 
ary performance  were  not  known  till  the  appearance  of 
the  Correspondence  with  Liszt,  and  with  Uhlig,  Fischer, 
and  Heine,  in  1887-1888;  and  even  from  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  unravel  the  tangle,  since  we  read,  for  instance, 
under  date  of  June  18,  1851:  "I  commenced  Young 
348 


HOW  THE  POEM   WAS    WRITTEN  349 

Siegfried  on  the  3d  June,  and  I  shall  have  finished  it  in 
a  week  " ;  and  again  in  July :  "  I  have  just  written  the 
poem  of  Young  Siegfried  " ;  while  more  than  a  year  later 
(November,  1852)  we  come  across  this:  "I  am  now  work- 
ing at  Young  Siegfried;  I  shall  soon  have  finished  it. 
Then  I  attack  Siegfried's  Death  —  this  will  take  me 
longer."  The  apparent  inconsistency  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  the  last  reference  to  Young  Siegfried  is  to  the 
revised  and  remodelled  version  of  it.  Concerning  Sieg- 
fried's Death  he  adds :  "  I  have  two  scenes  in  it  to  write 
afresh  (the  Norns  and  the  scene  of  Briinnhilde  with  the 
Valkyries),  and  above  all  the  close;  besides  these,  every- 
thing needs  most  important  revision.  The  whole  will 
then  be  —  out  with  it !  I  am  impudent  enough  to  say  it 
—  the  greatest  poem  ever  written!  " 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  changes  he  here  refers 
to  with  the  original  Siegfried's  Death,  which,  as  the 
reader  will  remember,  was  written  as  early  as  1848, 
immediately  after  Lohengrin.^  Leaving  that  task  to  the 
reader  himself  (with  the  hint  just  quoted  from  Wagner's 
letter),  let  us  now  examine  the  motives  which  led  him  to 
abandon  his  plan  of  composing  Siegfried's  Death,  and  to 
evolve  from  it  instead  a  complete  Tetralogy,  or  cycle  of 
four  dramas. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  revolution  in  Dresden  and 
Wagner's  share  in  it,  it  is  probable  that  Lohengrin  would 
liave  been  given  there  in  due  course  of  time,  and  that, 
with  sucli  a  fine  cast  as  was  available  there,  and  tl  e 
composer  himself  to  conduct,  it  would  have  proved  a 
success.     Encouraged  by  this,  he   would  have  at  once 

1  The  original  Siec/fried's  Tod  is  printed  in  Vol.  II.,  the  revised 
Gdtterdiimmerung  in  Vol  VI.,  of  the  Gesammelte  Schriften. 


350  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

set  to  work  and  composed  his  Siegfried's  Death.  In 
that  case  we  should  have  had  no  Tetralogy,  and  it  is  not 
likely  that  tliat  drama  would  have  compensated  even  for 
Gotterdammerung  alone.  After  Lohengrin  had  been  pro- 
duced at  last  in  Weimar,  its  exiled  composer  for  a  time 
thought  seriously  of  setting  Siegfried's  Death  to  music 
and  sending  it  to  Liszt  for  the  Weimar  stage.  In  June, 
1849,  he  wrote  to  him :  "  I  shall  at  last  devote  my  time  to 
composing  my  last  German  poem,  Siegfried's  Death;  in 
half  a  year  I  shall  send  you  the  complete  opera."  In 
September,  1850,  he  wrote  to  Uhlig:  — 

"  Liszt  informs  me  that  there  is  some  talk,  should  Lohengrin 
succeed,  of  commissioning  me  to  compose  ray  Siegfried  for  Wei- 
mar ;  for  which  purpose  an  honorarium  would  be  paid  to  me  in 
advance,  sufficiently  large  to  enable  me  to  live  undisturbed  until 
the  completion  of  the  work.  Thereupon  I  have  answered  that  I 
would  never  have  composed  Siegfried  as  a  castle  in  the  air  ;  but  if 
Lohengrin  tm-ned  out  thoroughly  satisfactory,  I  presumed  that 
actors  would  thereby  be  trained  for  me  at  Weimar  who,  with 
proper  zeal  and  earnestness,  would  be  able  to  bring  Siegfried  to 
life  in  the  best  possible  way.  For  the  Weimar  company  I  would 
therefore  specially  get  the  Siegfried  music  ready  for  performance. 
Already  I  have  procured  music-paper  and  a  Dresden  music-pen, 
but  whether  I  can  still  compose,  God  only  knows  !  Perhaps  I  can 
get  into  the  way  again." 

A  month  before  this  he  had  written  to  Liszt  that  the 
Siegfried  music  was  already  haunting  him  in  all  his  limbs 
{spukt  mir  bereits  in  alien  Gliedern).  About  the  same 
time  he  sent  the  poem  to  the  publisher  Wigand  in  Leip- 
zig, who,  however,  refused  to  print  it,  and  Uhlig  kept 
the  manuscript. 

Thus  matters  stood  before  the  first  performance  of 
Lohengrin  at  Weimar,  which  we  have  already  described. 


HOW  THE  POEM   WAS   WRITTEN  351 

That  performance  made  Wagner  change  his  mind.  No 
doubt,  considering  all  the  circumstances,  it  was  a  credit- 
able performance ;  but  no  one  need  be  told  that  Lohen- 
(jrin  cannot  be  put  on  the  stage,  as  Wagner  intended  it, 
with  an  expenditure  of  only  about  f  1500  for  scenery, 
and  Avith  artists  who,  had  they  been  first-class,  would 
not  have  sung  for  a  pittance  in  so  small  a  town  as  Wei- 
mar. Bear  this  in  mind,  and  you  will  understand  what 
he  meant  when  he  wrote  to  Uhlig  (Sept.  20,  1850) :  "  I 
need  not  begin  to  assure  you  that  I  really  abandoned  Lo- 
hengrin  when  I  permitted  its  production  at  Weimar." 

The  situation  made  him  think;  and  the  result  of  his 
meditations  is  hinted  at  in  two  extraordinary  epistolary 
l)assages  which  show  that  he  had  the  germs  of  a  so7't  of 
Bayreuth-Festival  plan  in  his  mind  twenty-six  years  be- 
fore it  was  realized.  It  seems  that  it  was  Heine  who 
received  the  first  inkling  of  this  plan  in  these  mysteri- 
ous lines,  dated  Sept.  14 :  "I  am  now  thinking  of  writ- 
ing the  music  to  Siegfried.  In  order  one  day  to  be  able 
to  produce  it  properly,  I  am  cherishing  all  sorts  of  bold 
and  out-of-the-way  plans,  to  the  realization  of  which 
nothing  further  is  necessary  than  that  some  old  uncle  or 
other  should  take  it  into  his  head  to  die."  To  Uhlig  he 
wrote  more  seriously  and  explicitly,  a  week  later :  — 

"  I  need  not  give  you  my  further  reasons  when  I  declare  that  I 
should  like  to  send  Siegfried  into  the  world  in  different  fashion 
from  that  which  would  be  possible  to  the  good  people  there.  With 
regard  to  this,  I  am  busy  with  wishes  and  plans  which  at  first  look 
seem  chimerical  ;  yet  these  alone  give  me  the  heart  to  finish  Sieg- 
fried. To  realize  the  best,  the  most  decisive,  the  most  important 
work  which,  under  the  present  circumstances,  I  can  produce, — in 
short,  the  accomplishment  of  the  conscious  mission  of  my  life,  — 
needs  a  matter  of  perhaps  10,000  thalers.    If  I  could  ever  command 


352  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

such  a  sum,  I  would  arrange  thus  :  here,  where  I  happen  to  be,  — 
and  where  many  a  thing  is  far  from  bad,  —  I  would  erect,  after  my 
own  plans,  in  a  beautiful  field  near  the  town,  a  rough  theatre  of 
planks  and  beams,  and  merely  furnish  it  with  the  decorations  and 
machinery  necessary  for  the  production  of  Siegfried.  Then  I  would 
select  the  best  singers  to  be  found  anywhere,  and  invite  them  for 
six  weeks  to  Zurich.  I  would  try  to  form  a  chorus  here  consisting, 
for  the  most  part,  of  amateurs  ;  there  are  splendid  voices  here,  and 
strong,  healthy  people.  I  would  invite  in  the  same  way  my  or- 
chestra. At  the  New  Year,  announcements  and  invitations  to  all 
the  friends  of  the  musical  drama  would  appear  in  all  the  German 
newspapers,  with  a  call  to  visit  the  proposed  dramatic  musical  fes- 
tival. Any  one  giving  notice,  and  travelling  for  this  purpose  to 
Ziirich,  would  receive  a  certain  entree  —  naturally,  like  all  the 
entrees^  gratis.  Besides,  I  should  invite  to  a  performance  the 
young  people  here,  the  university,  the  choral  unions.  When  every- 
thing was  in  order,  I  should  arrange,  under  these  circumstances, 
for  three  performances  of  Siegfried  in  one  week.  After  the  third 
the  theatre  would  be  pulled  down,  and  my  score  burnt.  To  those 
persons  who  had  been  pleased  with  the  thing,  I  should  then  say, 
'Now  do  likewise.'  But  if  they  wanted  to  hear  something  new 
from  me,  I  should  say,  '  You  get  the  money  ! '  Well,  do  I  seem 
quite  mad  to  you  ?  It  may  be  so,  but  I  assure  you  to  attain  this 
end  is  the  hope  of  my  life,  the  prospect  which  alone  can  tempt  me 
to  take  in  hand  a  work  of  art.  So  — get  me  10,000  thalers  — 
that's  all ! " 

It  is  quite  remarkable  to  note  how  many  features  of 
the  later  Bayreuth  Festivals  are  here  foreshadowed. 
And  so  firm  a  hold  did  this  plan  at  once  take  on  his 
mind  that  he  determined  to  give  up  the  Weimar  offer  of 
500  thalers,  which  were  to  be  paid  to  him  in  the  interim, 
in  case  he  should  deliver  the  Siegfried  score  by  July  1, 
1852.  But  besides  the  Festival  idea  there  was  another 
important  consideration  which  induced  him  to  modify  his 
operatic  plans.     He  had  been  haunted  for  some  months 


HOW  THE  POEM   WAS    WRITTEN  353 

by  the  thought  of  the  youth  who  sets  out  "'in  order  to 
learn  fear,'  and  who  is  so  stupid  that  he  is  never  able  to 
learn  it.  Think  of  my  alarm  when  I  suddenly  discover 
that  this  youth  is  no  other  than  the  young  Siegfried,  who 
wins  the  hoard  and  awakes  Briiunhilde.  The  scheme 
is  now  ready"  (May  10,  1851).  In  other  words,  his 
Nibelung  scheme  had  now  advanced  to  two  dramas,  Sieg- 
fried's Death  preceded  by  Young  Siegfried.  Concerning 
these  two  Siegfried  dramas  his  intention  is  that  "each 
shall  in  itself  be  an  independent  piece.  They  are  only 
to  be  presented  to  the  public  in  succession  for  the  first 
time;  afterwards  each,  according  to  taste  or  means,  can 
be  given  quite  by  itself." 

So  Siegfried's  Death  was  put  aside  for  a  moment,  and 
Yoking  Siegfried  became  the  hero  of  the  hour :  "  A  thou- 
sand greetings  to  R's  from  me!  Say  to  them  that  to-day 
my  Young  Siegfried  came  into  the  world  ready  and  well- 
rhymed"  (June  24,  1851).  And  what  is  of  special  inter- 
est, is  to  find  that  some  of  the  Young  Siegfried  music 
also  dates  back  as  far  as  only  four  years  after  the  com- 
pletion of  Lohengrin :  — 

"  You  perhaps  cannot  imagine  it,  but  everything  comes  quite 
naturally.  The  musical  phrases  fit  themselves  on  to  the  verses 
and  periods  without  any  trouble  on  my  part ;  everj'thing  grows  as 
if  wild  from  the  ground.  I  have  already  the  beginning  in  my 
head ;  also  some  plastic  motives,  like  the  Fafner  one.  I  am  de- 
lighted at  the  thought  of  giving  myself  up  wholly  to  it." 

■Wlien  Liszt  heard  of  the  new  project,  he  wrote :  "  So 
we  are  to  liave  a  young  Siegfried!  You  are  really  a 
perfectly  incredible  fellow,  before  whom  one  must  take 
off  hat  and  cap  three  times ! "  In  his  reply  Wagner 
states  that  he  is  only  wishing  for  a  fine  day  to  begin 


354  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

writing  tlie  poem,  which,  he  says,  is  already  completed 
in  his  head.  Five  weeks  later  comes  the  news  that  the 
poem  is  finished:  "It  has  given  me  great  pleasure,  and 
at  any  rate  it  is  such  a  thing  as  I  was  obliged  to  make 
now,  and  the  best  thing  I  have  done  so  far."  He  is,  in 
fact,  so  enthusiastic  over  his  new  project  that  he  volun- 
tarily renounces  Breitkopf  and  Hartel's  generous  offer 
to  print  the  full  score  of  Lohengrin  on  condition  that,  in 
place  of  that,  they  preserve  their  good  will  and  intentions 
for  the  forthcoming  Siegfried  score.  For  it  seemed  to 
him  "  fabulous  "  that  any  firm  should  be  willing  to  print 
an  opera  like  Lohengrin,  which  was  only  being  performed 
in  one  city!  He  feared  that  this  score  might  be  an 
unprofitable  investment,  and  then  the  Leipzig  publishers 
would  be  unwilling  to  undertake  his  beloved  Siegfried. 

Great  as  was  his  confidence  in  his  alter  ego,  Liszt,  he 
was  not  going  to  have  any  more  cuts  and  concessions, 
and  performances  lasting  an  hour  too  long.  So,  although 
Young  Siegfried  is  now,  in  turn,  intended  for  Weimar, 
he  writes  to  Uhlig  that  he  does  not  intend  to  have  it 
produced  there  unless  he  can  be  there  himself  But  very 
soon  the  Yoxmg  Siegfried  also  became  altogether  prob- 
lematic for  Weimar,  and  this  was  due  to  the  maturing 
of  the  complete  Nibelung  plan  —  the  Walkiire-Siegfried- 
Gotterddmmerung  trilogy,  with  the  introductory  play  of 
Rheingold.  This  complete  scheme  is  first  communicated 
to  Uhlig  under  date  of  Nov.  12,  1851.  A  week  later 
Liszt  is  informed  of  the  Nibelung  and  the  Festival  plans 
at  the  same  time. 

One  of  the  most  curious  and  suggestive  things  about 
this  Nibelung  scheme  is  that  Wagner,  guided  by  an 
unconscious  dramatic  instinct,  sketched  out  the  complete 


HOW  THE  POEM   WAS    WRITTEN  356 

plot  of  the  four  dramas  as  early  as  1848,  before  he  wrote 
the  poem  of  Sie(jfrle(.r.s  Death.  This  sketch  is  printed  in 
Vol.  II.  of  the  Collected  AVurks,  and  although  some  of  its 
details  were  altered  or  omitted  when  the  dramas  were 
written,  it  remains  to  this  day  the  most  lucid  and  logical 
synopsis  that  has  ever  been  made  of  his  great  work. 
And  now  note  the  sequel.  When  the  author  of  Sieg- 
frUtVs  Death  made  his  preparations  for  setting  his  poem 
to  music,  he  found  that  the  subject  was  too  big  for  one 
drama.  To  one  who  had  read  his  preliminary  sketch  of 
the  whole  Nibelung  Myth  there  would  have  been  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  full  significance  of  Sieg- 
fried's  Death.  But  a  stage  drama  should  not  need  any 
preliminary  essays  and  footnotes;  it  should  present 
everything  directly  to  the  eyes  and  ears,  should  explain 
itself  at  every  moment.  A  literary  poet  may  address 
himself  to  the  imagination,  but  a  dramatist  should  appeal 
to  the  senses.  It  was  this  consideration  that  had  induced 
him  to  alter  the  close  of  Tannhduser  in  such  a  way  as  to 
bring  the  apparition  of  Venus  and  the  body  of  Elizabeth 
actually  on  the  stage,  instead  of  merely  hinting  at  tliem. 
And  it  was  this  consideration  that  now  made  him  give  up 
Siegfried's  Death  and  evolve  the  gigantic  Tetralogy,  in 
the  separate  dramas  of  which  he  could  bring  before  the 
eyes  events  which  had  in  that  drama  been  presented 
merely  in  the  shape  of  ejnc  narrative :  — 

"  So,  to  make  Siegfried'' s  Death  possible,  I  wrote  Young  Sieg- 
fried ;  but  the  more  the  whole  took  shape,  the  more  did  I  perceive, 
while  developing  the  scenes  and  music  of  Young  Siegfried,  that  I 
had  only  increasoil  the  necessity  for  a  clearer  presentation  of  the 
whole  story  to  the  senses.  I  now  see  that,  in  order  to  become 
intelligible  on  the  stage,  I  must  work  out  the  whole  myth  in  plastic 
style.     It  was  not  this  consideration  alone  which  inip(  Ikd  me  to 


356  WELDING    TUE  NIBELVNG'S  RING 

my  new  plan,  but  especially  the  overpowering  impressiveness  of 
the  subject-matter  which  I  thus  acquire  for  presentation,  and 
which  supplies  me  with  a  wealth  of  material  for  artistic  fashioning 
which  it  would  be  a  sin  to  leave  unused." 

He  then  proceeds  to  give  the  first  intimation  of  the 
Walkilre  and  Rheingold  plans. 

So  here  we  have  the  great  work  of  his  life  laid  out 
clearly  and  irrevocably.  He  also  tells  his  friends  that 
he  feels  the  impossibility  of  producing  such  a  work  satis- 
factorily at  any  existing  theatre,  and  that  he  is  tired  of 
doing  things  hy  halves:  "With  this  my  new  conception 
I  withdraw  entirely  from  all  connection  with  our  theatre 
and  public  of  to-day;  I  break  decisively  and  forever  with 
the  formal  present."  "The  performance  of  the  Nibelung 
dramas  must  take  place  at  a  great  Festival,  specially 
arranged  for  this  purpose."  The  four  dramas  must  first 
be  given  m  proper  order,  whereupon  they  may  be  repeated 
separately  ad  libitum.  He  adds  that  it  will  take  hira  at 
least  three  full  years  to  comj)lete  this  work,  —  little 
dreaming  that  it  would  occupy  him,  with  interruptions, 
for  the  next  twenty-three  years !  , 

One  more  short  extract  from  a  letter  to  Uhlig  (No.  35) 
may  be  given  here  by  way  of  mirroring  his  mind  at  this 
time.  It  precedes  the  one  just  quoted  from,  by  a  few 
weeks :  — 

"  I  want  a  small  house,  with  meadow  and  a  little  garden  !  To 
work  with  zest  and  joy,  — but  not  for  the  present  generation.  .  ,  . 
If  all  German  theatres  tumble  down,  I  will  erect  a  new  one  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  gather  every  one  together,  and  produce  the 
whole  [Trilogy]  in  the  course  of  a  week. — Rest!  rest!  rest! 
Country  !  country  !  a  cow,  a  goat,  etc.  Then  —  health  —  happi- 
ness —  hope  !  Else,  everything  lost.  I  care  no  more.  You  must 
come  here ! " 


HOW  THE  POEM   WAS    WRITTEN  357 

Wagner  had  reason  to  fear  that  his  plan  would,  as  he 
says,  "  on  account  of  its  almost  bottomless  mad  audacity, 
be  comprehended  by  no  one";  and  he  was  therefore 
greatly  delighted  to  have  Liszt  —  although  it  deprived 
that  friend  of  the  prospective  pleasure  of  bringing  out 
Siegfried  at  Weimar  —  approve  of  it  cordially.  Sieg- 
frietVs  Death  and  Young  Siegfried  were  already  versified; 
the  next  poem  which  he  undertook  was  the  Walkwe.  Of 
this  there  can  be  no  doubt;  for  he  says  explicitly  in  a 
letter  to  Uhlig  (Oct.  14,  1852)  :  "  The  introductory  even- 
ing is  really  a  complete  drama,  quite  rich  in  action :  I 
have  finished  fully  half  of  it.  The  Walkilre,^  entirely. 
The  two  Siegfrieds,  however,  must  still  be  thoroughly 
revised,  especially  Siegfried'' s  Death.  But  then  —  it  will 
he  something ! " 

On  July  2,  1852,  he  imparts  the  information  that  he 
expects  to  finish  the  whole  Nibelung  poem  by  September 
or  October  and  that  he  rejoices  greatly  at  the  thought  of 
the  music.  It  was  not  till  December,  however,  that  he 
wrote  to  Heine :  "  I  have  just  finished  my  great  Nibelung 
poem,  and  I  mean  to  make  a  clean  copy  of  the  stuff,  so 
that  my  friends,  too,  may  be  able  to  taste  as  much  as 
possible  of  it.  This  will  take  up  a  full  month  of  my 
time,  for  at  present  I  can  at  most  spend  three  hours  on 
such  work."  While  he  was  still  busy  with  the  poem, 
the  desire  to  communicate  it  to  his  friends,  before  he  set 
to  work  on  the  nnisic,  overcame  him.  He  therefore  pur- 
posed to  have  twentyrfive  or  thirty  copies  of  the  whole 
poem  made  in  fac-simile  reprint.  But  who  was  to  pay 
for  this  ?  He  had  no  money,  and  it  could  be  done  only 
by  means  of  a  subscription  among  his  friends.     But  as 

1  It  was  finished  on  July  1,  1852.    See  Letters  to  Uhlig,  No.  G7. 


358  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

such  a  subscription  was  not  forthcoming,  he  at  last  had 
the  poems  printed  in  the  ordinary  way  at  his  own 
expense, —  a  few  copies  only  for  private  distribution  to 
his  friends,  and  secretly,  to  avoid  admonitions.  ''Those 
who  know  my  situation,"  he  writes  to  Liszt  (Feb.  11, 
1853),  on  sending  him  a  few  copies  (for  himself,  the 
Grand  Duchess,  and  the  Princess  of  Prussia),  "  will,  in 
face  of  this  considerable  expense,  again  have  occasion  to 
consider  me  a  spendthrift:  be  it  so!  I  must  confess  the 
world  at  large  behaves  towards  me  in  such  a  miserly  way 
that  I  feel  no  desire  whatever  to  imitate  it." 

Liszt's  enthusiasm  over  the  Nibelung  scheme  is  almost 
as  great  as  Wagner's,  and  it  leads  him  to  hope  that  the 
work  may  be  completed  in  less  than  three  years.  Should 
its  author  by  that  time  still  be  debarred  return  to  his 
country,  Liszt  offers  to  take  upon  himself  the  function  of 
conductor,  adding:  "I  hope,  however,  I  shall  have  the 
pleasure  of  being  able  to  enjoy  your  Nibelung  Trilogy 
more  quietly  from  parquet  or  balcony,  and  in  that  case, 
I  invite  you  after  each  of  the  four  performances  to  supper 
at  the  Hotel  de  Saxe  [Dresden]  or  Hotel  de  Kussie  [Ber- 
lin], provided  you  will  still  be  able  to  eat  and  drink  after 
your  exertions."  The  Princess  von  Wittgenstein  read  the 
whole  of  the  Tetralogy  on  the  day  of  its  receipt,  as  Liszt 
informs  his  friend;  it  aroused  her  enthusiasm,  and  there- 
after almost  daily  she  quoted  from  it  in  conversing  with 
Liszt.  But  of  his  other  friends,  only  two  (Franz  Miiller 
and  Karl  Ritter)  as  much  as  replied  to  acknowledge 
receipt  of  the  copy  to  the  author  who  was  so  thirsty  for 
a  little  sympathy  and  encouragement  in  his  audacious 
and  unprecedented  undertaking.  While  waiting  for  such 
a  sign  of  sympathy,  he  describes  himself  as  living  solely 


LIFE  IN  ZURICH  359 

through  the  post:  "With  the  most  violent  impatience 
I  must  await  the  postman  every  morning  at  11  o'clock; 
if  he  brings  me  nothing  at  all,  or  nothing  satisfactory, 
my  whole  day  is  one  of  resignation.  That  is  my  life ! 
Why  do  I  continue  to  live?" 

LIFE   IN    ZURICH 

We  must  now  cast  a  partly  retrospective  glance  at 
Wagner's  life  in  Zurich  during  these  years  of  literary 
and  poetic  work.  A  careless  perusal  of  the  correspond- 
ence with  Liszt  might  give  the  impression  that  Wagner 
was  dissatisfied  with  his  situation  in  Zurich :  for  utter- 
ances of  despair  like  the  one  just  quoted  abound  in  it; 
but  on  closer  examination  it  will  be  seen  that  these 
expressions  of  despair  and  suicidal  anguish  almost  inva- 
riably have  their  origin  in  disappointed  artistic  hopes, 
operatic  misrepresentations  and  failures  in  Germany,  or 
attacks  of  erysipelas  or  dysj^epsia.  With  his  life  in 
Zurich  as  such,  and  with  his  friends  there,  he  was 
highly  pleased,  as  he  points  out  over  and  over  again. 
He  informs  Fischer  on  Nov.  9,  1850 :  — 

"  I  shall  now  in  any  case  remain  in  Ziirich,  where  I  have  found 
a  circle  of  very  dear  friends  ;  when  the  time  comes  for  you  to  retire 
from  active  life,  you  should  by  all  means  be  so  sensible  as  to  come 
here.  I  can  find  no  words  to  describe  the  agreeableness  of  life 
here  ;  in  Paris  I  had  the  genuine  Swiss  homesickness  !  The  sturdy, 
honest  folk  here  will  be  to  your  taste,  and  one  can  manage  a  house- 
hold cheaply." 

He  playfully  advises  the  royal  chorus  master  of  the 
Dresden  opera  to  do  his  work  badly  so  that  he  may  the 
sooner  be  pensioned  off,  and  then  join  him  in  Zurich. 
He  appreciates  the  freedom  with  which  he  can  give  ex- 


3G0  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

pression  to  his  thoughts  in  Switzerland:  "In  Dresden  I 
shoukl  have  soured  as  Kapellmeister  loci,  because  always 
maliciously  attacked,  pulled  to  pieces,  and  therefore 
rendered  powerless."  In  Zurich,  "I  live  protected  by 
the  true  and  genuine  love  of  men  who  know  me  as  I  am, 
and  who  would  not  have  me  a  jot  otherwise.  I  am  only 
to  be  envied."     Again,  in  1850,  to  Uhlig:  — 

"I  feel  very  well  again,  back  in  Ziirich,  and  I  would  choose  to 
live  here  rather  than  anywhere  else  in  the  whole  wide  world.  We 
have  a  most  delightful  dwelling  by  the  lake,  with  the  most  magnifi- 
cent views,  garden,  etc.  In  my  house-coat  I  go  down  to  the  lake 
to  bathe  ;  a  boat  is  there  which  we  row  ourselves.  Besides,  an 
excellent  race  of  men,  and  whichever  way  we  turn,  sympathy, 
politeness,  and  the  most  touching  readiness  to  do  service :  yes, 
more,  and  more  trusty,  friends  than  I  could  ever  find  in  beautiful, 
big  Dresden.  All  are  glad  to  see  me  ;  of  Philistines  here  I  know 
only  the  Saxon  exiles.  Oh,  how  unfortunate  and  worthy  of  pity 
you  seem  to  me  in  Dresden  !  " 

In  1851,  to  Heine :  — 

"  Ah,  if  no  one  would  pity  me  any  more  on  account  of  my  loss 
of  my  Dresden  position  !  How  little  they  know  me  who  look  upon 
this  loss  as  my  misfortune  !  Were  I  aiiniestied  to-day,  and  were 
I  again  appointed  chief  Kapellmeister  at  Dresden,  you  would  see 
how  calmly  I  should  remain  in  my  Switzerland,  and  perhaps 
scarcely  even  put  my  feet  on  the  blessed  soil  of  the  German  con- 
federacy I    Yes,  that  is  how  I  feel." 

And  once  more,  to  Liszt  (March  4,  1853) :  — 

"  Should  you  ever  succeed,  in  the  gigantic  perseverance  of  your 
friendship,  in  again  making  Germany  accessible  to  me,  be  assured 
that  I  would  make  no  other  use  of  this  privilege  than  occasionally 
to  visit  Weimar,  take  part  in  your  doings  for  a  little  while,  and 
here  and  there  attend  some  decisive  fir.st  performance  of  my 
operas.  This  I  must  have  —  this  is  a  necessity  of  my  life,  and  this 
is  what  I  miss  at  present  so  dreadfully  and  so  painfully  ! " 


LIFE  IN  ZURICH  361 

He  felt  instinctively  tliat  he  conld  work  best  in  the 
Swiss  solitude,  where  he  could  have  plenty  of  tonic 
mountain  air  as  brain  food,  without  having  to  dissipate 
his  energies  in  rehearsals  and  other  practical  work,  which 
always  exhausted  him  for  the  time  being.  Here,  too, 
he  is  safe  from  all  danger  of  political  molestation.  To 
the  Swiss  authorities  he  was  no  exile;  his  expulsion 
would  have  had  to  be  specially  demanded  by  the  Holy 
Alliance,  and  in  that  case  he  could  have  saved  himself 
by  immediately  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  Swiss  repub- 
lic. Hence  he  remains  indifferent  to  the  renewal,  in 
1853,  of  the  warrant  against  him,  in  consequence  of  the 
rumor  that  he  was  about  to  visit  Germany.  All  police 
authorities  were  again  admonished  to  keep  their  eyes 
open,  and,  in  case  of  his  capture,  to  forward  him  at  once 
to  Dresden.  There  was  also,  at  one  time,  a  rumor  that 
he  had  been  pardoned.  The  postmaster  of  Hansen  came 
running  breathlessly  to  his  house  with  the  newspaper 
containing  the  (false)  report;  but,  to  his  astonishment, 
the  exiled  composer  remained  "  terribly  indifferent "  to 
this  bit  of  news. 

To  avoid  police  interference  with  his  letters,  he  had 
them  sent  at  first  to  the  address  of  his  sister-in-law, 
Natalie  Planer,  at  Zurich.  Swiss  postal  arrangements 
were  rather  primitive  in  those  days,  and  his  letters 
contain  constant  references,  which  now  seem  quaint,  to 
expensive  postage,  to  forwarding  newspapers  and  scores 
by  freight-wagon  in  order  to  save  expense,  and  the  like. 
Occasionally  lie  is  short  of  stamps,  and  then  he  begs  his 
correspondent  to  get  even  with  him  by  not  prepaying 
postage  on  Ids  next  letter,  in  turn. 

During  his  ten  years'  sojourn  at  Ziiri(!li,  he  repeatedly 


362  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S   RING 

changed  his  residence.  His  ideal  of  a  home  for  a  work- 
ing artist  was  a  little  villa  overlooking  the  lake,  with 
flower-garden,  animals,  and  rooms  for  visiting  friends. 
For  a  time  he  lived  in  Zurich;  then  (in  1850  and  1851) 
in  a  house  by  the  lake,  known  to  his  friends  as  "  Villa 
Rienzi."  Among  these  Ziirich  friends  were  Baumgartner 
and  Alex.  Miiller,  musicians;  Sulzer,  Hagenbusch,  can- 
tonal officials;  Wille,  a  Hamburg  journalist  who  had 
gone  back  to  live  in  Switzerland,  the  home  of  his 
ancestors;  Herwegh,  the  well-known  poet;  and  Wesen- 
donck,  a  retired  merchant  of  wealth,  who  was  fond  of 
music,  and  whose  wife  was  one  of  the  first  and  most 
ardent  Wagner  enthusiasts.  The  Willes,  at  their  charm- 
ing villa  at  the  neighboring  Mariafeld,  were  often  visited 
by  Wagner  in  company  of  Herwegh  or  of  Liszt,  when 
the  great  pianist  happened  to  be  at  Zurich;  and  for  a 
time  he  lived  with  the  Willes  altogether  as  their  guest. 
Frau  Wille  was  a  novelist  of  some  note,  and  she  has 
contributed  valuable  material  to  the  personal  side  of 
Wagner's  biography  by  publishing,^  with  a  running  com- 
mentary, fifteen  letters  of  his.  Fran  Wille  had  first  met 
him  at  Dresden  in  1843,  and  his  appearance  had  made  an 
indelible  impression  on  her  memory :  — 

"the  delicate  mobile  figure,  the  head  witli  the  mighty  forehead, 
the  keen  eyes,  and  the  energetic  traits  about  his  small,  firmly 
closed  mouth.  An  artist  who  sat  next  to  me,  called  my  attention 
to  the  straight,  projecting  chin,  which,  as  if  cut  from  stone,  gave 
the  face  a  peculiar  character.  Wagner's  wife  was  of  pleasing 
appearance ;  she  was  gay  and  talkative,  and  appeared  to  be 
especially  happy  in  society.  He  himself  was  very  animated,  self- 
conscious,  but  amiable  and  free  from  affectation." 

1  In  the  Deutsche  Rundschau,  May  and  June,  1887. 


LIFE  IN  ZURICH  363 

Neither  Wille  nor  Herwegli  was  musical,  but  that 
made  no  difference  to  Wagner,  who,  as  his  writings  at- 
test, and  unlike  musicians  of  the  old  type,  took  a  deep 
interest  in  many  tilings  not  connected  with  his  own  art. 
To  Wille  he  said  one  day:  "You  are  not  musical;  you 
say  that  you  create  nothing!  But  what  of  that?  You 
have  life.  When  you  are  present,  original  ideas  come 
into  one's  head." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  he  was  first  introduced 
to  the  works  of  Schopenhauer,  by  Herwegh,  who  had 
brought  them  to  Marienfeld :  "  Wagner,  with  incredible 
rapidity  of  conception,  soon  had  sped  through  the  phi- 
losopher's works.  He  and  Herwegh  Avere  astounded  at 
finding  the  world's  riddle  solved.  Resignation  and 
asceticism  —  that  was  to  be  the  goal  of  mankind. "  And 
now  followed  long  discussions  on  this  system  of  pessi- 
mism, which  Wagner  could  lay  as  an  unction  on  his  many 
wounds. 

Herwegh  was  a  great  linguist,  and  an  enthusiast  for 
foreign  poets,  and  it  was  probably  the  contagion  of  this 
enthusiasm  that  inspired  such  passages  as  the  following 
in  Wagner's  letters  to  his  friend  Uhlig:  — 

"To  you  and  K.  I  recommend  my  new  friend,  the  English  poet 
Shelley.  There  i.s  but  one  German  version  of  him,  that  by  Seybt, 
which  you  must  get.  He  and  his  friend  Byron  together  make  a 
perfectly  delightful  man."  "Get  the  poems  of  Hafis.  .  .  .  This 
Persian  Hafis  is  the  gbeatest  poet  that  ever  lived  and  wrote.  — 
If  you  do  not  immediately  buy  him,  I  shall  despise  you  beyond 
measure:  charge  the  costs  to  the  2\innhduser  account." 

Besides  thus  widening  Wagner's  literary  horizon,  Her- 
wegh was  a  friend  who  offered  to  translate  Tarmhduser 
for  him  into  French  prose;    who  accompanied  him  on 


364  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  BING 

excursions  and  to  hydropathic  establishments ;  gave  him 
hygienic  advice  ("  for  the  present  Herwegh  is  my  physi- 
cian; his  physical  and  physiological  knowledge  is  great, 
and  in  every  respect  he  is  more  sympathetic  to  me  than 
any  doctor ") ;  and  one  of  Herwegh' s  most  important 
achievements  was  that  he  helped  in  securing  a  good  por- 
trait of  Wagner  of  that  period.  As  the  latter  relates  to 
Uhlig  (April  9,  1852)  :  — 

"I  wrote  to  you  about  a  painting  animal  who  wanted  to  catch 
me :  it  is  done.  The  first  portrait  was  bad,  because  the  idiot  did 
not  understand  me.  Then  Herwegh  came  to  the  sittings,  and 
under  his  minutest  guidance  —  with  his  intellect  and  practised 
eye  —  a  really  good  portrait  has  been  obtained,  which  will  soon 
appear  here  ;  and  yesterday  I  offered  it  to  Breitkopf  and  Hartel 
for  publication." 

While  Herwegh  and  Wille  were  not  interested  in  music, 
Frau  Wille  was,  and  thus  it  happened  that  Wagner  occa- 
sionally showed  himself  in  his  element  at  her  house. 
He  would  sit  at  her  piano  and  play  from  Tannhduser  and 
Lohengrin,  from  memory. 

"At  the  same  time  he  explained  the  events  on  the  stage,  and 
hinted  at  the  plot,  singing  the  text  softly.  It  was  a  remarkable 
and  unique  way  of  making  us  realize  what  we  could  not  see  with 
our  eyes  and  hear  interpreted  by  an  orchestra.  Of  the  work  on 
which  he  was  engaged  Wagner  did  not  speak,  but  he  did  dwell 
on  the  pleasures  of  idling.  In  his  amiable  mood  he  expressed  sat- 
isfaction with  the  progress  of  his  work." 

On  another  occasion,  when  Herwegh  and  Wille  were 
discussing  philology  and  natural  science,  Wagner  came 
to  the  ladies  with  the  remark,  "  the  other  two  are  digging 
roots  again;  that  will  take  up  some  time."  He  laughed 
and  opened  the  piano. 


A    MODERN   PROMETHEUS  365 

"I  shall  never  forget,"  continues  Frau  Wille,  "how,  before 
he  began  to  play,  he  explained  to  us  the  character  of  the  Ninth 
Symphony,  and  proved  the  necessity  of  the  chorus  and  the  Hymn 
to  Joy  for  the  completion  of  the  great  tone-poem.  ...  I  have 
often  since  heard  the  Ninth  Symphony,  but  this  allegro  vivace  alia 
marcia  I  have  heard  only  once.  .  .  .  Wagner  looked  serious,  dig- 
nified, yet  amiable.  An  old  Zurich  lady,  our  neighbor,  usually 
most  sedate  and  hard  to  move,  was  electrified  when  subsequently 
he  played  with  great  enthusiasm  and  in  all  its  grandeur  the  chorus, 
'  Seid  umschlungen,  Millionen.'  In  the  midst  of  it  he  stopped.  '  I 
cannot  play  the  piano,  you  know,'  he  exclaimed.  'You  do  not 
applaud.     Now  finish  it  yourselves  ! '  " 

About  Christmas,  1852,  Wagner  read  his  Nibelung 
Trilogy  to  his  friends  at  Mariafeld,  in  three  evenings. 
Subsequently  he  read  them,  with  Rheingold,  to  a  larger 
circle  at  the  Hotel  Bauer  in  Zurich.  On  the  former  occa- 
sion, "I  spoiled  Wagner's  humor,"  Frau  Wille  relates, 

"  by  leaving  the  room  on  the  last  evening  while  he  was  still  read- 
ing. My  little  boy  had  fever  and  wanted  me.  When  I  appeared 
the  next  morning,  Wagner  said  that  the  boy  was  not  dangerously 
ill ;  that  it  was  a  disagreeable  criticism  on  an  author,  to  leave  in 
that  way  ;  and  he  called  me  'Fricka.'  That  settled  it ;  I  did  not 
protest  against  the  name." 

A   MODERN   PROMETHEUS 

The  charming  glimpses  of  Wagner's  life  during  the 
first  five  or  six  years  at  Zurich  thus  given  by  Frau  Wille, 
and  corroborated  by  the  composer's  own  letters,  show 
that  if  he  had  been  an  ordinary  man,  such  as  nature 
produces  by  the  dozen  {Duzend-Waare  der  Natm;  as 
Schoi)C'nhauer  calls  them),  he  Avould  have  had  reason  to 
be  contented  and  happy,  liut  he  was  neither  contented 
nor  happy  —  excejjt  when  he  was  hard  at  work  on  his 


366  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

Trilogy.  There  were  indeed  moments  when  he  looked 
at  the  world  in  a  cheerful  spirit.  In  one  of  these  — 
during  a  spell  of  unusually  good  health  —  he  writes  to 
Uhlig :  — 

"  I  now  take  a  childlike  interest  in  things  to  which  I  had  already 
become  indifferent  —  e.g.  about  our  new  house,  which  is  certainly- 
small,  but  cosy  and  quiet.  With  true  childlike  joy  every  day 
I  bring  in  something  to  make  our  exile-home  more  complete  and 
comfortable.  So  now  I  have  had  my  '  complete  works '  bound  in 
red :  there  are  already  five  volumes  ;  the  three  opera  poems  will 
make  the  sixth.  These  trifles  exercise  a  beneficent  and  diverting 
effect  on  my  over-excited  mind,  just  as  a  hip-bath  soothes  the  head ; 
and,  like  this,  I  intend  those  to  form  part  of  my  regime.  Besides, 
my  artistic  plans  are  spreading  out  before  me,  and  ever  becoming 
richer,  more  pleasurable,  and  more  decided  ;  and  it  is  with  quite  a 
thrill  of  delight  that  I  think  of  soon  working  them  out."  (Nov.  28, 
1851.) 

Similar  moments  of  delight  came  to  him  when  —  as 
rarely  happened  —  he  received  news  of  a  good  and  suc- 
cessful performance  of  one  of  his  operas,  as  for  instance 
at  Breslau,  in  October,  1852 ;  an  event  which  gave  rise  to 
this  outpouring :  — 

"  The  postman  has  just  interrupted  me  by  bringing  me  a  letter 
from  the  Breslau  Kapellmeister,  about  the  extraordinary  success  of 
the  first  performance  of  Tannhauser :  the  man  writes  quite  beside 
himself  with  joy  and  ecstasy,  and  I  myself  am  so  delighted  with  it, 
that  I  cannot  continue  my  letter  to-day,  because  my  peace  has 
been  completely  taken  from  me,  and  this  time  in  such  an  agreeable 
manner ! ' ' 

But  these  moments  of  rapture  the  reader  of  the  three 
volumes  of  Wagner's  Correspondence  will  find  quite 
exceptional.  Usually  the  wind  blows  from  the  opposite 
quarter :  — 


A   MODERN   PROMETHEUS  367 

"I  lead  here  entirely  a  dream-life:  if  I  awake,  it  is  to  suffer," 
he  ^vrites  to  Liszt.  "  How  foolish  it  is  in  you  to  still  make  efforts 
to  help  me.  .  .  .  AVhat  could  help  me?  My  nights  are  mostly 
sleepless  —  weary  and  miserable  I  leave  my  bed  to  see  a  day  before 
me  which  is  destined  to  bring  me  not  one  joy.  Surroundings  which 
only  torture  me  and  from  which  I  withdraw  only  to  torture  myself 
in  turn  !  Whatever  I  touch  I  loathe.  —  This  cannot  continue  thus  ! 
I  care  no  longer  to  live." 

Again,  on  Jan.  15,  1854 :  — 

"  Dear  Franz !  None  of  the  past  years  has  gone  by  without 
having  at  least  once  driven  me  to  the  very  verge  of  suicide.  .  .  . 
I  cannot  live  like  a  dog,  cannot  sleep  on  straw  and  drink  fusel : 
I  must  have  some  kind  of  sympathy,  if  my  mind  is  to  succeed  in 
the  toilsome  work  of  creating  a  new  world." 

Many  pages  might  be  filled  with  such  bitter  outpour- 
ings into  the  hearts  of  Liszt  and  Uhlig.  Wagner  w^as 
not  a  cold-blooded  military  hero,  or  a  stolid,  soulless 
Philistine:  he  was  a  man  of  genius,  an  imaginative 
artist  whose  nature  and  mission  was  the  expression  of 
emotion.  Ordinary  people  cannot  conceive  how  intense 
must  be  real  and  23e7'sonal  emotions  to  a  genius  who  can 
give  such  powerful  expression  to  imagined  woes  as  he 
has  done  in  his  tragedies.  His  feelings,  his  moods,  were 
too  vivid  to  be  repressed:  "I  cry  out  when  I  feel  pain," 
he  exclaimed;  and  his  moods  and  desires  changed  as 
suddenly  and  as  violently  as  those  of  a  child.  One 
moment  he  rails  at  the  idea  of  the  "future,"  rails  at 
fame,  and  at  all  his  ideals;  the  next  moment  he  curses 
the  whole  world  because  he  hears  that  somewhere  one  of 
liis  operas  has  been  performed  without  regard  to  those 
ideals !  One  day  he  avers  that  he  is  already  completely 
indifferent  to  praise  and  recognition;  the  next  day  he 


368  WELDING   THE  NIBELUN&S  RING 

declares  he  can  live  no  longer  without  some  signs  of 
appreciation;  and  coddles  himself  with  the  thought  that 
women,  at  any  rate,  favor  him.  Let  not  Philistines 
judge  such  a  man  from  their  own  unemotional  point  of 
view.  Rather,  let  them  read  his  Correspondence  and 
learn  therefrom  how  they  would  feel  and  act  under  his 
circumstances  if  they  were  men  of  genius. 

To  one  of  the  most  heart-rending  effusions  received 
by  him,  Liszt  replied:  — 

"  Your  letters  are  sad  —  and  your  life  sadder  still.  You  want  to 
go  out  into  the  wide  world,  live,  enjoy,  revel !  Ah  !  how  cordially 
I  wish  you  could  !  but  do  you  not  feel,  after  all,  that  the  thorn  and 
the  wound  which  you  have  in  your  heart  will  leave  you  nowhere, 
and  can  never  be  healed  ?  —  Your  greatness  constitutes  also  your 
misery  —  the  two  are  inseparably  united,  and  must  ever  annoy  and 
torture  you." 

Liszt  here  puts  his  finger  on  the  wound :  Wagner  was 
a  modern  Prometheus,  whose  vital  organs  were  daily 
gnawed  at  by  critics  and  other  Philistines  because  he  had 
had  the  audacity  to  steal  from  heaven  the  fire  of  genius 
—  a  blaze  which  showed  their  own  lights  to  be  mere 
tallow  candles. 

Wagner  compares  himself  to  his  idol :  — 

"  Strange  that  my  fate  should  be  like  Beethoven's  !  he  could  not 
hear  his  music  because  he  was  deaf.  ...  I  cannot  hear  mine  be- 
cause I  am  more  than  deaf,  because  I  do  not  live  in  my  time  at  all, 
because  I  move  among  you  as  one  who  is  dead,  because  the  world 
is  full  of  —  fellows  !  .  .  .  Oh  that  I  should  not  arise  from  my  bed 
to-morrow,  awake  no  more  to  this  loathsome  life  !  " 

The  chief  torture  lay  not  in  his  exile,  not  in  his  inabil- 
ity to  return  to  Germany;  it  lay  in  the  fact  that,  on 
considering  the  real  state  of  affairs,  he  could  not  tvish  to 


A   MODERN   PROMETHEUS  369 

return  to  Germany:  "I  am  glad  that  the  royal  Saxon 
police  makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  attend  the  perform- 
ances of  my  operas,  which,  after  all,  would  only  annoy 
me."  "I  am  glad  not  to  hear  all  the  wretched  perform- 
ances of  my  operas  in  Germany,  which  would  probably 
only  break  my  heart."  This  is  the  key  to  his  unhappi- 
ness  in  Zurich.  He  had  composed  three  operas,  with 
a  pen  dipped  into  his  heart-blood,  and  these  were  now 
being  mutilated  by  conductors,  misinterpreted  by  singers, 
misrepresented  by  critics,  misunderstood  by  the  public; 
while  he,  the  exiled  father,  had  to  witness  from  a  dis- 
tance this  prostitution  of  his  noble  offspring  —  a  Prome- 
theus Bound,  unable  to  help  himself. 

Let  us  look  at  the  situation  fairly  and  squarely.  He 
had  composed  the  Flying  Dutchman,  Tannhiiuser,  and 
Lohengrin,  and  knew  that  they  were  three  of  the  best 
operas  then  in  existence,  while  the  world  at  large  did 
not  know  this.  You  might  say  therefore  that  the  musi- 
cal world  was  not  to  be  blamed  for  not  receiving  these 
operas  as  we  now  think  they  ought  to  have  been  received 
—  with  open  arms.  True:  we  may  absolve  the  public 
from  blame,  but  we  cannot  absolve  the  musicians  and  the 
critics.  It  was  their  duty,  on  meeting  with  a  new  form 
of  operatic  art,  to  study,  learn,  investigate,  before  they 
misperformed  and  then  condemned.  But  had  they  any 
opportunity  to  learn,  when  the  composer  was  an  exile, 
unable  to  come  and  teach  them?  Plenty  of  it.  Wagner 
had  confidence  in  Liszt  as  in  his  alter  ego;  Liszt  was 
willing  and  glad  to  accede  to  his  wishes  that  he  should 
superintend  the  performances  of  liis  operas  in  Berlin  and 
Leipzig,  in  order  to  see  that  tliey  were  correctly  inter- 
preted and  their  success  made  possible:  but  the  foolish 


370  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

managers  and  jealous  condvietoi-s  refused  to  accept  Ids  ser- 
vices, though  offered  free!  The  details  of  this  extraor- 
dinary proceeding  may  be  found  in  the  Wagner-Liszt 
Correspondence,  and  they  constitute  one  of  the  most 
astounding  chapters  in  the  history  of  music. 

More  than  that :  they  weened  they  knew  better  than 
Wagner  himself.  At  least,  they  and  their  singers  took 
no  pains  whatever  to  learn  his  intentions  from  his  writ- 
ings. Take,  for  instance,  the  TannMiuser  Guide,  to 
which  we  referred  in  the  chapter  on  that  opera.  That 
essay  was  at  first  intended  as  a  contribution  to  Brendel's 
Neue  Zeitschrift  fiir  Musik.  But  after  he  had  finished  it 
he  concluded  that  it  would  accomplish  its  mission  much 
more  thoroughly  if  it  were  published  as  a  pamphlet. 
Accordingly  he  had  it  so  printed  at  his  own  expense, 
poor  as  he  was.  Then  he  sent  copies  to  the  leading  opera- 
houses,  and  a  large  number  also  to  Uhlig,  with  the 
request  to  give  one  gratis  with  every  copy  of  the  score 
that  was  sold.  A  few  conductors,  like  Liszt  at  Weimar, 
and  Schindelmeisser  at  Wiesbaden,  paid  attention  to  it; 
but  these  were  exceptional  cases.  In  Munich  the  six 
copies  provided  by  Wagner  were  found,  many  years  later, 
uncut,  in  the  library  of  the  opera-house !  In  Leipzig  the 
result  was  still  more  peculiar.  On  Oct.  1,  1852,  Wagner 
wrote  to  Uhlig:  "To-day  I  have  received  W.'s  letter, 
containing  the  announcement  that  after  taking  cognizance 
of  my  guide  to  the  performance  of  TannJiciuser,  the  Leip- 
zig theatre  was  obliged  to  give  up  this  opera,  and  that 
the  score  was  sent  back  to  you." 

Please  note  that  this  was  Leipzig,  only  forty  years  ago 
—  Leipzig,  which,  as  all  the  histories  of  music  tell  us, 
had  been  raised  by  the  efforts  of  Mendelssohn  to  the  rank 


A   MODERN  PROMETHEUS  371 

of  the  musical  centre  of  Germany !  Do  you  wonder  that 
Wagner  was  subsequently  so  anxious  not  to  have  Lohen- 
grin produced  in  that  city,  when  they  wanted  it  there? 
He  refused  permission  at  first,  but  finally  yielded,  because 
he  needed  the  honorarium  for  his  bread  and  butter;  but 
Liszt's  aid  had  been  refused,  and  the  result,  as  the  reader 
knows,  was  a  failure  as  miserable  as  that  of  Tannhiiuser 
had  been  in  the  same  city  a  year  before. 

The  fact  is  so  extraordinary  that  it  must  be  repeated, 
in  order  to  impress  it  on  the  memory  —  Lohengrin,  forty 
years  ago,  was  at  first  considered  *'  impossible "  at  the 
musical  centre  of  Germany,  then  "tried"  and  "exe- 
cuted" mercilessly!  And  Leipzig  Avas  far  from  being 
alone  in  this  matter :  it  marked  the  rule  to  which  there 
were  few  exceptions.  The  German  theatres  in  general 
considered  Lohengrin  almost  impossible  of  performance. 
To  quote  only  one  witness  on  this  point  —  the  most 
reliable  of  all  —  Hartel,  Wagner's  publisher,  wrote  to 
him  "  in  great  distress  "  (Letter  to  Uhlig,  Nov.  10,  1852) 
that "  the  director,  etc.,  declared  that  my  operas  contained 
insuperable  difficulties,  ''and  from  most  of  the  theatres 
(so  W.  said)  the  same  complaints  come  in.'  — Nice  fellows 
those!"  Did  Wagner,  then,  exaggerate  in  speaking  to 
Liszt  of  "  the  wretched  state  of  artistic  affairs  "  in  Ger- 
many? Or  can  we  wonder  that,  instead  of  welcoming  a 
performance  of  Lohengrin  at  Dresden  in  the  same  year, 
he  protested  against  it  ? 

Protest  against  the  production  of  his  own  opera?  The 
absurd  man !  Should  he  not,  in  his  poverty,  have  wel- 
comed any  and  every  performance,  under  any  conditions? 
Many  will  think  so,  and  at  that  time  everybody  but  Liszt 
seemed  to  take  that  view.     Wagner  was  of  a  different 


372  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

mind.  "How  few  men,"  he  exclaims  in  one  of  his  first 
letters  to  Uhlig  —  "  how  few  men  like  themselves  better 
than  their  stomachs!"  He  liked  his  own  stomach  very 
much  indeed;  he  was  a  born  epicure,  and  no  one  ever 
craved  comfort  and  luxury  more  than  he  did :  but  not  an 
inch  did  this  make  him  budge  from  what  he  considered 
his  duty  to  his  ideals.  He  would  have  received  the 
same  sum  of  money  whether  the  opera  was  to  be  poorly 
performed  or  well;  yet  he  preferred  no  performance 
at  all  to  a  poor  one.  It  was  not  eccentricity,  bvit  the 
nobility  of  his  artistic  character,  that  made  him  write 
such  sentences  as  these :  "  I  will  not  allow  Lohengrin  to 
be  given  at  Leipzig,  even  if  I  provoke  public  scandal  over 
the  matter.  I  am  going  to  see  if  these  people  will  be 
able  to  avoid  knowing  who  I  am ! "  "  I  have  withdrawn 
Lohengrin  everywhere  for  this  winter"  (1852).  Think 
of  an  artist  being  compelled  by  his  conscience  to  take 
such  measures  against  his  own  favorite  work,  five  years 
after  its  completion,  —  a  work  which  on  the  other  side  he 
was  yearning  with  all  his  soul  to  send  out  into  the  world, 
—  and  you  will  comprehend  the  melancholy  moods  and 
mixed  emotions  expressed  in  his  letters  of  this  period. 
And  when,  in  the  following  year,  he  nevertheless  yielded 
to  importunities  and  ceded  his  early  operas  to  the 
theatres,  you  will  understand  why  those  emotions  became 
still  more  mixed  and  painful. 

"  And  this  torture,  trouble,  and  care  for  a  life  which  I  hate,  which 
I  curse  !  —  and  for  this  to  make  myself  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  my 
visitors, —  and  to  enjoy  at  the  same  time  the  ecstasy  of  having  given 
up  the  noblest  work  of  my  life  to  the  foreknown  bungling  incompe- 
tence of  our  theatre-rabble  and  to  the  derision  of  the  Philistine  !  " 

He  regrets  bitterly  having  *'  prostituted "  Tannhdtiser 


A   MODERN  PEOMETIIEUS  373 

and  Lohengrin  by  giving  them  up  to  "  the  devil,  that  is, 
the  theatres  " :  "  Oh,  how  proud  and  free  was  I  when  I 
still  reserved  these  works  for  you  alone  at  Weimar! 
Now  I  am  a  slave  and  utterly  helpless."  But  there  is 
still  one  hope  and  consolation  —  the  Nibelnng's  Ming. 
That  shall  have  a  better  fate,  or  perish!  "If  I  die 
without  having  produced  that  work,  I  leave  it  to  you; 
and  if  you  die  without  having  had  opportunity  to  per- 
form it  in  a  worthy  manner,  you  —  will  burn  it :  —  let  that 
be  agreed  upon  !  " 

What  annoyed  him  beyond  measure  was  that  —  apart 
from  Liszt  —  most  of  his  intimate  friends,  even,  were 
too  obtuse  and  too  philistine  to  comprehend  his  attitude 
toward  his  own  operas.  It  was  bad  enough  to  have  his 
publishers  complain  that  he  was  too  fussy. 

"  Hartel  wrote  to  me  (recently  in  answer  to  my  offer  of  Iplii- 
genia  and  the  Faust  overture  for  publication)  in  a  most  caterwaul- 
ing and  discouraged  tone  about  my  conduct,  declaring  that  I  made 
it  so  difficult,  and  almost  impossible,  to  all  the  theatres  to  give  my 
operas  :  that  my  treatment  of  Leipzig  was  too  discouraging,  my 
demands  for  mise-en-scene  too  reckless,  etc." 

Wagner,  of  course,  insisted  on  these  conditions  be- 
cause he  knew  that  only  if  the  operas  were  correctly 
performed,  would  a  permanent  success  be  possible.  It 
was  more  discouraging  still  to  have  even  his  bosom  friend 
Fischer  consider  the  Tannhcmser  Guide  a  rather  foolish 
thing  on  the  whole,  he  being  of  the  opinion  that  the  way 
for  his  operas  should  be  made  as  smooth  as  possible. 
On  this  ])oint  Wagner  expresses  himself  to  Heine  (De- 
cember, 1852)  in  clear  and  forcible  language :  — 

"The  small  attention  which  G[enast  at  Weimar]  paid  to  all  my 
hints  and  directions,  appears  to  have  made  your  hair  stand  on  end. 


374  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  EING 

And  yet  Papa  Fischer  blames  me  so  much  for  my  Guide  to  Tann- 
hduser  —  he  always  imagines  it  to  be  my  sole  concern  to  see  my 
operas  performed,  and  that  it  is  therefore  '  unwise '  to  make  so 
many  out-of-the-way  demands !  I  have  indeed  good  ground  for 
shame  to  have  been  misunderstood  on  the  most  important  points 
even  by  you  and  him.  I  care  absolittely  nothing  about  my 
things  BEING  GIVEN ;  I  am  only  anxious  that  they  should  be  so 
GIVEN  as  I  intended  ;  he  who  will  not  and  cannot  do  that,  let  him 
leave  them  alone.  That  is  my  whole  meaning  —  and  has  Fischer 
not  yet  found  that  out  ?  O  you  hardened  sinner  !  Na,  greet  him 
heartily." 

It  is  not  strange  that,  ever  since  the  days  of  Plato, 
Philistines  have  regarded  men  of  genius  as  madmen. 
Wagner  surely  was  a  madman ;  for  does  he  not  confess 
that  after  the  Loliei\grin  fiasco  at  Leipzig  he  was  on  the 
point  of  risking  his  liberty  by  going  to  Germany  to  set 
things  right?  And  did  he  not  brood  over  the  wrongs 
done  to  his  operas,  until  they  became  the  cause  of  a 
persistent  nightmare? 

"For  a  long  time,"  he  writes  to  Fischer,  "I  have  been  con- 
stantly dreaming  that  I  was  back  in  Dresden,  but  secretly  hidden 
in  your  house  ;  and  just  as  secretly  you  brought  me  into  the 
theatre,  and  there  I  heard  one  of  my  operas,  but  all  wrong  and  out 
of  time,  so  that  I  became  wild,  and  wanted  to  shout  out  loud,  from 
which  you,  in  great  alarm,  were  trying  to  stop  me." 

THE  "circus    HULSEN"iN   BERLIN 

How  wise  he  was  in  insisting  on  correct  performances 
of  his  works  (as  music-dra???as  not  as  mere  lyric  operas), 
is  shown  by  the  simple  fact  that  when  TannJiduser,  in 
1890-91,  was  put  on  the  stage  anew  at  Dresden,  Berlin, 
and  Hamburg  in  exact  accordance  with  his  intentions, 
the  number  of  performances  of  that  opera  was  raised 


THE  "  CIRCUS  HULSEN  "  IN  BERLIN         376 

from  nine,  thirteen,  and  six  in  the  preceding  season,  to 
eighteen,  twenty -nine,  and  eighteen  respectively;  that 
is,  it  was  doubled  in  Dresden,  more  than  doubled  in  Ber- 
lin, and  trebled  in  Hamburg,  although  in  this  last  case 
they  did  not  even  use  the  Paris  version,  with  its  scenic 
splendors. 

Yet  it  was  at  Berlin  —  which,  in  the  season  of  1890-91 
led  all  Germany  with  eighty-one  Wagner  performances, 
and  which,  in  the  same  season,  celebrated  its  three  hun- 
dredth performance  of  Tannhduser  —  that  the  most  as- 
tounding farce  was  enacted  over  this  opera  —  a  farce  so 
long  drawn  out  that  Tannhduser  was  not  heard  there  till 
more  than  ten  years  after  its  premib'e  at  Dresden,  and 
until  after  forty  other  cities  had  heard  and  applauded  it. 
The  story  of  this  farce  is  such  an  interesting  chapter  in 
the  history  of  musical  Philistinism,  and  illustrates  so 
vividly  what  practical  difficulties  and  what  kind  of  man- 
agers and  conductors  Wagner  had  to  contend  with  all  his 
life,  that  it  may  here  be  told  in  some  detail.''  Although 
Tannhduser  was  first  produced  in  Dresden  in  1845,  the 
Berlin  authorities  do  not  appear  to  have  ever  seriously 
meditated  its  performance  till  about  seven  years  later. 
In  August,  1852,  Wagner  writes :  — 

"I  do  not  yet  know  how  matters  stand  with  Berlin:  I  have 
demanded  a  honorarium  of  1000  tlialers,  assigning  good  reasons  for 
my  demand,  and  have  given  them  clearly  to  understand  that  I  will 
not  prostitute  myself  again  for  Berlin  at  such  a  cheap  rate."  (His 
Rienzi  and  IlolUhulcr  had  been  cruelly  treated  there.)  "  Probably 
they  will  decline :  I  must  risk  it.  If  I  accomplish  anything,  it  can 
bo  only  by  terrorism." 

1  The  facts  are  gathered  from  about  fifty  of  the  letters  that  passed 
between  Wagner  and  his  correspondents. 


876  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

To  Liszt  he  wrote  about  the  same  time,  begging  him, 
if  he  could  sacrifice  the  time,  to  go  to  Berlin  and  ensure 
a  correct  performance  by  supervising  the  rehearsals. 
Liszt  replied  that  he  approved  of  his  "  exceptionally  high 
terms,"  under  the  circumstances,  and  that  he  was  quite 
willing  to  go  to  Berlin,  provided  he  received  an  invita- 
tion from  the  Intendant  to  assist  at  the  preparations. 
But  the  Intendant,  Botho  von  Hiilsen  —  mark  his  name ; 
it  will  often  recur  in  the  remaining  pages  of  this 
biography  —  was  more  of  a  Tartar  than  Wagner  and 
Liszt  knew  when  they  began  dealing  with  him.  In  the 
first  place,  he  put  his  foot  down  on  the  one  thousand 
thaler  honorarium.  The  composer  yielded,  in  part, 
accepting,  instead,  a  tantieme,  or  percentage,  of  the  box 
office  receipts.  By  this  arrangement,  he  consoled  him- 
self, he  might  "with  luck,  gain  more  than  a  thousand 
thalers."  In  the  second  place,  the  great  Botho  von 
Hiilsen  was  offended  by  the  proposal  that  Liszt  should 
attend  the  rehearsals  of  the  opera.  He  seemed  to  look 
on  this  as  a  personal  insult  to  his  conductors. 

By  September  the  outlook  had  become  discouraging. 
It  had  been  "  discovered  suddenly  that  Tannhliuser  could 
not  be  produced  on  any  one  of  the  royal  birthdays." 
The  opera  could  not,  according  to  Wagner's  calculations, 
be  given  before  January,  and  as  his  niece  Johanna  was 
to  leave  Berlin  in  February,  he  felt  compelled  to  make 
the  condition  that  ten  performances  for  that  winter  be 
guaranteed  him,  "to  avoid  the  risk  of  having  this  opera 
also  put  aside  after  the  third  or  fourth  performance,  like 
the  Dutchman  and  Bienzi,  which  had  been  declared  fail- 
ures for  that  very  reason."  If  this  guarantee  were 
refused,  he  was  determined  to  take  back  the  score.     This 


TEE  ''  CIRCUS  HULSEN''  IN  BERLIN  377 

time,  von  Hiilsen  was  more  tractable.  Johanna  was  to 
remain  in  Berlin  longer,  and  Hiilsen  assured  him  by 
letter  that  he  hoped  to  give  the  opera  more  than  ten 
times  and  would  undertake  to  arrange  for  six  perform- 
ances in  the  first  month.  "In  short,"  thought  Wagner, 
"the  matter  is  in  order."  He  even  heard  that  they  were 
thinking  in  Berlin  of  soon  following  up  this  opera  with 
Lohengrin :  "  The  Princess  of  Prussia  has  heard  it  again 
lately  (October  2d)  at  Weimar,  and  has  probably  made 
things  hot  for  Hiilsen.'' 

A  few  weeks  later  the  tide  had  turned  again,  and  the 
composer  poured  out  his  sorrows  into  Liszt's  heart  in  a 
letter  dated  Nov.  9 :  — 

"Hiilsen  has  declined  [to  accept  your  services].  I  enclose  his 
letter.  He  has  no  conception  of  what  is  in  question  here,  and  I 
shall  never  be  able  to  make  him  understand.  This  Hiilsen  is  per- 
sonally an  amiable  man,  but  he  has  not  the  slightest  knowledge  of 
the  business  over  which  he  is  called  to  preside  :  about  Tminhduser 
he  treats  with  me  as  with  Flotow  about  Martha.  It  is  most  disgust- 
ing !  .  .  .  From  all  the  reports  by  Hiilsen  and  my  brother  I  had 
meanwhile  seen  clearly  that  these  people  are  entirely  without  un- 
derstanding of  what  is  essential  and  important  to  me  in  this  affair  ; 
tliat  all  their  views  are  so  hopelessly  bounded  by  matters  of  rou- 
tine, as  to  make  nie  fear  that  they  would  not  at  all  comprehend  my 
wish  to  have  you  called  to  Berlin.  I  confess  that  for  this  reason  I 
went  about  it  with  some  feelings  of  apprehension  1  At  last  I  wrote 
to  Hiilsen  himself,  taking  great  pains  to  be  as  explanatory,  thor- 
ough, cordial,  and  persuasive  as  possible  :  I  called  his  attention  in 
advance  to  the  fact  that  the  possible  hostile  feeling  that  might  be 
aroused  in  the  (most  insignificant)  Berlin  conductors,  was  null 
and  void  compared  with  the  favorable  influence  in  my  behalf  which 
you  would  exert  in  every  direction  ;  in  short,  I  wrote  in  sucli  a 
way  that  I  considered  an  unfavorable  reply  quite  Impossible.  — 
Now  read  the  enclosed  answer  and  convince  yourself  that  I  have 
once  more  suffered  my  usual  fate  of  crying  out  with  my  whole 
80ul.'  and  striking  against  walls  of  leather." 


378  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S   RING 

Hiilsen  had  promised  that  after  the  Queen's  birthday 
(Nov.  13,  1852)  Tannhduser  should  be  forthwith  put  into 
rehearsal.  But  he  did  not  keep  his  promise.  In  the 
following  January  Wagner  heard  from  his  niece  at  Berlin 
that  Flotow's  Indra  and  Auber's  Lac  des  Fees  were  to  be 
given  before  his  opera.  This  was  too  much  for  his 
irascible  temper.  He  wrote  to  Berlin  that  he  considered 
such  treatment  in  the  light  of  an  insult,  and  demanded 
back  his  score. 

Liszt  approved  of  this  movement,  adding:  "But 
whether  they  will  comply  with  your  demand  is  a  differ- 
ent question. "  Wagner  replies  promptly :  "  You  fancied 
they  would  not  return  the  score  I  had  demanded  back 
from  Berlin :  this  time  you  erred !  The  score  was  sent 
back  at  once,  and  neither  Hiilsen  nor  any  one  else  wrote 
me  a  word  about  it." 

One  thing  was  gained  by  this :  all  previous  negotia- 
tions and  concessions  were  now  annulled,  and  could  be 
renewed  in  a  different  form.  Liszt,  relying  on  his 
diplomatic  skill,  advises  his  friend  to  put  the  matter 
henceforth  in  his  own  hands,  and  Wagner  wisely  accepts 
his  suggestion:  "Twice  I  have  produced  an  opera  of 
mine  in  Berlin  and  on  both  occasions  I  was  unfortunate ; 
this  time  I  should  therefore  prefer  to  leave  the  undertak- 
ing entirely  in  your  hands."  This  was  written  in 
March.  In  the  following  month  the  question  entered 
into  an  entirely  new  phase.  There  was  a  project  of 
giving  Tannhduser  at  a  non-royal  theatre  in  Berlin,  — 
Kroll's, — which  both  Wagner  and  Liszt  approved  of. 
Another  offer  was  to  take  the  Leipzig  company  over  to 
give  a  performance  at  another  subordinate  Berlin  theatre ; 
this  Liszt  declined;  and  as  for  the  project  at  Kroll's, 


THE  ''CIRCUS  HiJLSEN''  IN  BERLIN  379 

that  was  frustrated  by  the  sly  machinations  of  Hiilsen, 
who  secured  an  order  forbidding  the  performance  oi 
operas  like  Tannhduser  at  the  smaller  theatres!  The 
next  step  was  an  attempt  to  give  Tannhduser  at  Kroll's 
as  an  operatic  concert  (without  scenery  and  action),  in 
Avhich  form  it  would  not  have  clashed  with  the  new  law; 
but  this  scheme  was  wisely  frustrated  by  Liszt;  and 
when  still  another  project  appeared,  —  a  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  Konigsberg  troupe  to  give  the  opera  in  Ber- 
lin, —  Wagner  himself  sent  in  his  veto. 

More  than  a  year  after  the  Tannhduser  score  had  been 
returned  to  its  author  without  an  answer,  the  courteous 
Herr  von  Hiilsen  endeavored  to  reopen  negotiations  by 
writing  a  short  note  to  Liszt,  asking  under  what  condi- 
tions he  would  grant  permission  to  produce  Tannhdxiser 
in  the  following  winter.  In  his  reply  Liszt  dwelt  on  the 
facts  that  if  Wagner  imposed  special  conditions  on  Ber- 
lin, it  was  because  he  attached  special  importance  to  a 
successful  performance  in  that  city,  and  its  consequences ; 
that  these  conditions  were  solely  made  in  order  to  insure 
an  effective  performance,  and  therefore  a  popular  success ; 
that  the  author's  pecuniary  demands  Avould  not  be  exces- 
sive ;  and  that  he  himself,  though  he  would  have  to  give 
up  a  month  of  his  time,  would  not  ask  for  any  compen- 
sation. But  Hiilsen  did  not  approve  of  this  letter.  He 
declared  he  was  "  unwilling  to  agree  to  any  conditions 
which  would  reflect  on  the  dignity  of  the  Institute  and 
its  capability,  or  affect  the  authority  of  its  Intendant " ; 
adding,  "I  demand  the  composer's  confidence  in  me  and 
the  royal  stage."  To  which  Liszt  replies  with  a  final 
eloquent  effort  to  convince  Hiilsen  of  the  reasonableness 
of  Wagner's    conditions :   Surely  he  must  know,  as  an 


380  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

expert,  how  greatly  the  success  of  dramatic  works 
depended  on  the  manner  of  their  performance;  must 
know,  for  instance,  how  largely  the  popularity  and 
impressiveness  of  Spontini's  and  Meyerbeer's  operas  in 
Berlin  were  due  to  the  co-operation  of  their  composers  at 
their  production;  to  which  Liszt  adds  his  ultimatum  that 
if  Hiilsen  does  not  agree  to  his  co-operation  in  Wagner's 
place,  matters  must  be  left  in  statu  quo. 

And  what  did  Hiilsen  reply  to  this?  Here  is  the  con- 
clusion of  his  letter :  "  That,  after  two  vain  attempts  to 
secure  this  work  for  the  royal  theatre,  the  management 
can  undertake  no  third,  as  long  as  I  have  the  honor  to 
stand  at  its  head,  is  self-evident.  I  regret  this."  But 
it  was  not  the  last  time;  for  in  March,  1855,  Wagner 
informed  Liszt  that  Hiilsen  had  applied  to  him  again 
through  Fromman  (for  the  last  time,  as  he  said!);  he 
promised  him  all  imaginable  things ;  the  opera  was  to  be 
given  in  the  autumn.  Tired  of  the  whole  business,  and 
feeling  greatly  in  need  of  money  (he  was  in  London  at 
that  time),  he  gave  his  consent  —  a  proceeding  which  for 
a  moment  piqued  Liszt,  in  whose  hands  the  whole  matter 
had  been  placed.  But  the  great  pianist  adored  his  friend 
too  much  to  bear  any  resentment  against  him  for  this 
slight  business  irregularity.  On  the  contrary,  in  October 
he  took  extra  pains  with  a  performance  of  Tannhduser 
which  was  given  at  Weimar  for  the  special  edification  of 
the  Berliners,  —  Intendant  Hiilsen,  Conductor  Dorn, 
Tenor  Formes,  tlie  regisseur,  etc.  And  when,  on  Jan.  7, 
1856,  Tannhduser  was  at  last  produced  in  Berlin,  Liszt 
sent  this  telegram :  "  Yesterday  Tannhduser.  Excellent 
performance.  Wonderful  scenery.  Decided  popular  suc- 
cess.    Good  luck  to  you." 


THE  "  CIECUS  uilLSEN''  IN  BERLIN  381 

A  letter  followed,  with  details.  The  diplomatic  Liszt 
had  succeeded  where  his  brusque,  free-spoken  friend  had 
failed.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  visit  of  the  Ber- 
liners  to  "Weimar  had  been  a  ruse  arranged  by  Liszt  for 
dodging  the  difficulty  of  his  giving  any  direct  instruc- 
tions to  Conductor  Doru  —  which  would  have  offended 
that  dignitary's  pride.  Nay,  the  wily  Liszt  even  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  Berliners  —  Hiilsen  and  Dorn  — 
invite  his  co-operation  at  the  preparations  in  their  city, 
—  not  at  the  orchestral  rehearsals;  that  would  have  hurt 
Dorn's  feelings, — but  at  the  preliminary  piano-forte 
rehearsals.  Of  course  there  could  be  no  objection  to  that, 
even  on  the  part  of  the  most  conceited  of  conductors; 
for  was  not  Liszt  the  greatest  pianist  in  the  world, 
and  would  not  any  opera-house  be  glad  to  accept  his  ser- 
vices at  the  piano  rehearsals  of  an  opera,  especially  when 
they  were  given  free  of  charge?  Dorn  took  great  pains 
with  the  orchestra,  Johanna  Wagner  and  Formes  were 
excellent,  and  so  Liszt  was  able  to  write  on  the  whole  a 
favorable  criticism  of  the  performance  (Correspondence, 
No.  209).  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Princess 
of  Prussia  had,  as  Wagner  suspected,  "  made  things  hot 
for  Hiilsen  " ;  for  the  King  himself  had  suddenly  taken 
such  an  interest  in  the  matter  that  he  had  ordered  the 
scene  of  the  second  act  to  be  a  faithful  copy  of  the 
restoration  plan  of  the  Wartburg,  and  for  this  purpose 
had  specially  sent  Gropius  to  Eisenach.  The  result  of 
these  measures  was  that  Liszt  could  write  that  he  had 
"never  and  nowhere  seen  anything  comparable  to  the 
splendor  of  this  scenic  outfit." 

Such,  in  brief,  is  tlie  story  of  the  ten  years'  struggle  to 
force  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  popular  operas  ever 


382  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

written,  on  the  Intendant  of  the  Berlin  opera-house. 
And  if  this  tale  does  not  explain  to  the  reader  why- 
Hans  von  Biilow  once  referred  to  that  institution  as  the 
"Circus  Hulsen,"  the  fact  that  the  same  Intendant 
repeated  exactly  the  same  farce,  equally  prolonged,  with 
the  Nibelung^s  Ring,  twenty  years  later,  will  make  the 
matter  clear,  apart  from  Billow's  personal  provocation. 
Hiilsen's  folly,  moreover,  was  emphasized  by  the  results. 
He  had  refused  $750  for  all  the  rights  to  Tannhduser, 
but  this  opera  became  at  once  so  popular  that  he  had  to 
pay  the  composer  over  $1300  in  tantiemes  the  first  year. 
This  we  know  from  a  letter^  addressed  to  Director  J. 
Hoffmann  of  the  Josefstadter  Theatre  in  Vienna,  a  short 
extract  from  which  will  also  show  how  recklessly 
Wagner  sometimes  bartered  away  the  copyright  of  his 
works :  — 

"  Ziirich,  March  14,  1857.  Dear  Friend  !  Let  us  cut  the  matter 
short !  You  pay  me  for  every  performance  of  Tannhduser  §20, 
sending  me  $400,  or  the  receipts  for  the  first  twenty  performances, 
in  advance.  For  the  following  thirty  performances  you  will  pay 
me  the  tantiemes  every  quarter ;  after  the  fiftieth  all  my  claims 
shall  cease.  My  terms  are  based  on  my  Berlin  experiences  ;  there, 
where  the  performance  is  not  at  all  according  to  my  desires,  every 
performance  brings  me  an  average  of  $60  or  more.  In  course  of 
the  first  year  there  were  twenty- two  repetitions.' 


n 


Subsequently,  however,  Hulsen  deliberately  neglected 
this  opera,  and  the  composer's  income  dwindled. 


MONEY   TROUBLES 


Some    of    the    most    despondent    pessimistic    moods 
recorded  in  Wagner's  Correspondence  were  brought  on 

1  Manuscript,  in  Oesterlein's  Wagner-Museum  in  Vienna. 


MONEY   TROUBLES  383 

by  the  prolonged  Berlin  squabble,  and  his  despair  of 
ever  gaining  foothold  in  the  Prussian  capital.  The  mat- 
ter was  a  most  serious  one  to  him.  When  Tannhduser 
made  its  tardy  entrance  in  Berlin,  he  had  already  fin- 
ished the  composition  of  Rheingold  and  half  of  the  Walk- 
lire,  —  works  of  his  third  style,  —  and  Berlin  was  still 
a  stranger  to  his  second  style !  Moreover,  it  would  have 
been  a  great  boon  to  him  if  he  could  have  had  an  income 
in  Berlin  from  his  early  operas,  while  he  was  composing 
his  Trilogy  in  Switzerland.  There  was  hardly  a  day 
when  he  was  not  harassed  by  petty  money  matters, 
which  took  up  a  good  part  of  the  little  energy  which  his 
poor  health  usually  left  him  for  work.  When  his  Cor- 
respondence with  Liszt  appeared,  most  of  the  German 
reviewers,  with  a  malice  equalled  only  by  their  obtuse- 
ness,  derided  him  for  his  "impudence"  and  "shameless- 
ness "  in  constantly  borrowing  money  and  accepting 
presents  from  Liszt  and  other  friends.  But  the  melan- 
choly fact  is  that  he  had  no  choice  whatever  in  the 
matter:  either  he  had  to  do  what  he  did,  or  else  give  up 
music  altogether;  which,  for  a  man  with  his  instincts, 
was  as  impossible  as  for  a  fish  to  stop  swimming. 

His  pecuniary  embarrassments  would  have  never 
assumed  quite  so  serious  an  aspect  had  not  a  few 
indiscretions,  at  the  beginning  of  his  professional  career, 
plunged  him  up  to  the  ears  in  debts,  which  weighed  him 
down  for  many  years.  These  indiscretions  were  the 
outcome  of  his  belief  in  his  genius  and  its  financial 
value  —  a  belief  which  to-day  we  all  share,  but  in  which 
he  was  unluckily  too  far  ahead  of  the  world.  I  refer  to 
the  incidents  related  in  the  preceding  pages  of  his  bor- 
rowing money  to  bring  out  his  Novice  of  Palermo  (an 


38-1  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  EING 

opera  no  worse  than  hundreds  that  have  succeeded  for  a 
time,  and  which  failed  only  from  a  curious  combination 
of  untoward  circumstances) ;  and  more  especially  to  his 
rash  act  in  assuming  the  publication  of  his  own  Rienzi, 
Dutchvian,  and  Tannhduser,  for  which  undertaking  he 
borrowed  several  thousand  dollars.  As  his  Rienzi  had 
been  a  sensational  success  in  Dresden,  and  the  other  two 
works  far  from  financial  failures,  what  could  have  been 
more  natural  than  the  sanguine  belief  of  the  young  com- 
poser that  his  operas  would  soon  enable  him  to  repay  the 
borrowed  sum,  and  enrich  him  besides?  Publishers  have 
since  made  hundreds  of  thousands  out  of  those  operas ; 
to  the  composer  himself  they  were  only  a  source  of  daily 
mortification.  We  have  seen,  too,  how  unsuccessful  he 
was  in  all  his  efforts  to  make  a  living,  even  by  the  hum- 
blest sort  of  drudgery,  such  as  he  offered  to  do  during 
his  three  years  at  Paris ;  what  wonder  that  he  left  debts 
everywhere,  and  that  when  for  the  time  he  had  some 
humble  employment,  or  a  small  salary,  he  almost  always 
had  to  ask  for  part  of  it  in  advance?  He  had  an  advance 
of  salary  at  Riga  when  he  fled  to  Paris ;  an  advance  at 
Dresden  when  he  had  to  leave  that  city ;  when  he  left 
Paris  for  Dresden,  Sohlesinger  had  paid  him  in  advance 
for  some  arrangements  he  was  to  make  of  the  scores  of 
Meyerbeer's  Robert  and  Halevy's  Reine  de  Chypre;  and 
Weimar,  thanks  to  Liszt,  paid  him  in  advance  for  the 
projected  Young  Siegfried  to  enable  him  to  devote  his 
time  to  its  composition. 

He  was  anxious  to  pay  off  his  debts,  and  for  this 
purpose  he  had  put  aside  all  the  income  from  his  scores. 
But  here,  as  in  everything  else,  ill  luck  pursued  him. 
When  his  early  operas  began  to  make  their  way,  a  brisk 


MONEY  TROUBLES  385 

demand  soon  sprang  up  for  these  scores,  and  if  the  busi- 
ness had  been  properly  managed,  it  would  soon  have 
proved  remunerative;  but  he  himself,  being  an  exile, 
could  not  look  after  it,  and  all  his  appeals  to  the  pub- 
lisher Meser  —  and  ultimately  to  the  creditors  themselves 
to  take  the  matter  in  their  hands  for  their  own  benefit  — 
were  futile.  When  one  edition  was  exhausted,  Meser 
had  made  no  preparations  for  a  new  one;  when  an 
arrangement  of  Tannhduser  for  piano  alone  was  in  great 
demand,  none  was  provided;  managers,  singers,  and 
amateurs  frequently  had  to  write  repeatedly,  and  wait 
weeks,  before  they  got  an  answer  to  their  demands  for 
scores;  and  so  things  went  on  year  after  year,  from  bad 
to  worse,  and  in  the  meantime  the  creditors  worried  the 
poor  composer  to  death. 

Besides  having  these  debts,  he  was  handicapped  by 
being  called  on  to  support  not  only  himself  and  wife, 
but  his  wife's  parents.  Sometimes  it  would  take  the  last 
penny  in  the  house  to  make  up  the  twenty  or  more  thalers 
which  Minna  sent  to  pay  the  expenses  of  her  parents  in 
Dresden.  Let  the  following,  from  a  letter  to  Uhlig 
(Oct.  1,  1852),  be  an  illustration  of  the  sorry  plight  to 
which  the  household  was  often  reduced.  Money  was 
greatly  needed,  but  a  small  sum  was  soon  expected  from 
Leipzig,  where  Tannhduser  was  to  be  produced,  when 
the  news  came  that  the  project  of  giving  the  opera  had 
been  abandoned :  — 

"  Whereupon  my  wife  suddenly  begins  her  lamentation,  that  to- 
day was  the  first  of  October,  and  that  she  was  disconsolate  at  not 
being  able  to  pay  the  rent  for  her  parents  !  That  is  indeed  the 
cruellest  part  of  it ;  7  have  momentarily  no  money  at  all,  and  if 
Frankfurt  does  not  send  some  soon,  I  shall  be  in  a  sorry  plight. 


386  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S   RING 

Now  you  spoke  to  me  lately  of  the  savings  bank  of  your  children, 
of  a  father-in-law  who  might  help  in  a  moment  of  need.  Tell  me, 
could  you  expend  ten  thalers  for  me  till  November  (when  you  will 
again  receive  R.'s  money  for  me)  and  give  them  in  my  ncme  to  my 
mother-in-law  ?" 

Imagine  the  composer  of  Lohengrin  having  to  rack  his 
brain  with  such  far-fetched,  positively  ludicrous  plans 
to  meet  his  self-assumed  obligations!  The  author  of 
operas  whose  mere  interpreters  often  receive  a  thousand 
dollars  for  one  evening^ s  work!  Who  does  not  feel  how 
pathetically  Wagner  was  right  when  he  exclaimed  in 
reference  to  an  offer  to  go  to  America,  some  years  later : 
"Great  Heavens!  such  sums  as  I  could  earn  (??)  in 
America  people  ought  to  give  me  for  a  present,  without 
asking  anything  else  in  return  than  w^hat  I  am  now 
doing,  and  which  is  the  best  I  can  do."  And  who  does 
not  realize  the  gross  injustice  in  the  world's  relative 
treatment  of  creative  men  of  genius  and  mere  inter- 
preters which  is  brought  out  by  the  following  passage  in 
a  letter  from  Liszt :  "  Dawison  told  me  the  other  day  that 
his  recent  series  of  performances  in  Berlin  paid  for  the 
purchase  of  a  villa  near  Dresden.  —  At  this  rate  you 
ought  to  be  able  to  buy  with  your  scores  all  Zurich, 
besides  the  seven  Churfursten  and  the  lake !  "  ^ 

Not  only  was  he  denied  his  liberty,  and  often  the  com- 

1  The  Vienna  Neue  Freie  Presse  of  Oct.  28,  1892,  contained  the  in- 
formation that  "  the  Vienna  Court  Opera  alone  pays  the  annual  sum  of 
7000  to  8000  florins  in  tantiemes  for  Wagner's  operas."  Now  the  num- 
ber of  performances  of  these  operas  in  Vienna  is  about  fifty  a  year,  and 
almost  a  thousand  in  the  cities  of  Germany  and  Austria.  The  receipts 
in  Berlin,  Municli,  Dresden,  Hambur.i;,  average  at  least  as  high  as  those 
in  Vienna.  Allowing  for  operas  on  which  copyright  has  expired  and 
for  smaller  receipts  in  smaller  cities,  the  annual  profits  on  Wagner's 
operas  (Bayreuth  included)  must  amount  to  ful.'y  $50,000.    A  thousand 


MONEY   TROUBLES  387 

nion  necessities  of  life,  while  lie  was  creating  these 
profitable  works ;  his  detractors  continued  even  after  his 
death  to  misrepresent  his  character  and  his  actions.  To 
take  one  example  out  of  many.  In  the  preposterous 
parody  of  Wagner's  life  perpetrated  a  few  years  ago  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Bennett  (London  Musical  Times)  we  read  in 
regard  to  the  period  at  which  Ave  have  now  arrived:  "  But 
of  practical  work,  like  that  by  which  Mozart,  Beethoven, 
and  Schubert  honestly  earned  their  bread,  there  is  not  a 
syllable,  nor  apparently  a  thought.  To  beg,  AYagner  was 
not  ashamed."  A  short  recapitulation  of  facts  will  enable 
the  reader  to  judge  INIr.  Bennett's  competence  as  a  vera- 
cious biographer.  During  his  conductorship  at  Madge- 
burg,  Konigsberg,  Riga,  and  Dresden,  Wagner  worked  as 
few  Kapellmeisters  ever  work.  In  Paris,  during  his  first 
sojourn,  he  had  tried  almost  everything  but  boot-black- 
ing or  street-sweeping  to  make  his  living;  he  had  been 
there  again  recently,  trying  to  find  an  opening  for  work, 
or  performances  that  would  help  him.  He  had  within  a 
few  years  written  three  immortal  operas  which  to-day 
support  thousands  of  musicians,  and  which  he  had  reason 
to  hope  would  support  him.  He  had  now  in  his  mind 
no  fewer  than^ve  projects  for  new  operas,  one  of  which 
he  intended  to  work  out  for  Paris  immediately ;  he  had 
commenced  his  Nibelung  Trilogy,  to  which  he  was  soon 
to  devote  all  his  time;  he  tried  to  make  a  little  money 

dollars  a  week  for  the  heirs,  and  ten  times  that  amount  for  the  opera- 
houses  and  their  employees,  while  the  creator  of  all  this  wealth  could 
not  even  scrape  up  enough  to  permit  him  to  compose  without  being 
interrupted  by  the  pettiest  pecuniary  cares.  I  may  add  here  the  signili- 
cant  fact  tliat  not  one  of  the  malicious  reviewers  of  Wagner's  Corre- 
spondence, who  dwelt  so  long  on  his  obligations  to  Liszt,  alluded  to  the 
fact  tliat  he  was,  on  his  part,  supporting  Minna's  parents.  A  curious 
phenomenon,  this  hatred  of  genius  by  the  Philistines  ! 


388  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

with  concerts  and  operatic  performances  in  Zurich;  he 
wrote  articles  for  periodicals,  and  essays,  which  he  sent 
from  publisher  to  publisher,  trying  to  get  respectable 
terms  for  them;  was  it  Ids  fault  that  he  received  only 
$80  for  an  essay  on  which  he  had  been  hard  at  work  for 
four  months  {i.e.  at  the  rate  of  five  dollars  a  week)? 
Could  he  be  expected  to  accept  the  conductorship  of  the 
Zurich  Opera  for  ten  dollars  a  week  "at  hard  labor"? 
Was  he  not  right  in  exclaiming  (Aug.  7,  1849):  "Ali, 
children,  if  you  only  gave  me  the  income  of  a  middling 
mechanic,  you  would  truly  feel  joy  in  the  outcome  of  my 
undisturbed  work,  which  should  belong  to  you  all"? 

Details  regarding  the  efforts  to  support  himself  at  this 
period  are  given  in  the  letters  to  Liszt  (Nos.  20,  23,  25, 
etc.) ;  at  the  same  time  he  confesses  frankly  that  he  is 
good  for  nothing  except  composing  operas.  If  he  had 
been  less  of  an  egotist,  if  he  had  thought  of  the  greatest 
good  of  the  greatest  number,  he  would  of  course  have 
given  up  music  and  become  a  farmer,  a  merchant,  or  a 
hod-carrier.  The  world  would  then  have  lost  its  greatest 
music-dramas ;  but  think  how  the  Philistines  would  have 
been  pleased!  and  are  not  the  Philistines  in  the  majority? 
Do  not  thousands  of  Philistines  make  their  living  by 
writing  essays  and  articles  for  periodicals,  by  the  col- 
umn, which  Wagner  considered  "humiliating"  in  his 
own  case,  even  though  he  got  five  dollars  a  week  for  it? 
What  a  contemptible  character  —  to  have  done  nothing 
but  write  the  Dxdcliman,  Tannliduser,  and  Lohengrin,  and 
then  to  cry  out  like  a  child  because  he  "cannot  have 
everything  his  own  way"  (as  Mr.  Bennett  says);  i.e. 
because  he  cannot  get  money  enough  for  his  daily  bread 
while  he  is  anxious  to  write  more  operas  like  them ! 


MONEY   TROUBLES  389 

The  only  source  of  income  on  which,  he  could  count 
during  these  years  at  Zurich  was  from  the  sale  of  the 
performing  rights  of  his  operas  to  the  German  theatres 
—  usually  a  mere  pittance. 

The  large  cities,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Munich,  Stiittgart, 
where  he  might  have  asked  larger  sums,  were,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  last  to  accept  his  operas.  He  knew  the 
reason  for  this  very  well:  it  was  because  those  large 
cities  employed  opera-composing  conductors,  who  were  not 
pleased  at  the  idea  of  encountering  such  a  formidable 
rival  on  their  own  premises,  and  who,  Avhen  at  last  com- 
pelled by  the  popularity  of  these  operas  in  smaller  cities 
to  accept  them,  often  did  their  best  to  kill  them  off  by 
means  of  wretched  performances.  Poor  fellows !  They 
found  each  of  these  operas  a  hydra-headed  monster, 
against  whom  all  mutilations  were  unavailing. 

"What  princely  sums  he  obtained  for  the  performing 
rights  of  his  operas  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
Berlin  was  scandalized  at  the  very  thought  of  $750  for 
Tannhiinser,  and  Munich  would  not  listen  to  such  a  sum 
as  $500.  Hamburg  refused  to  pay  $250,  while  Leipzig 
found  $140  "exorbitant"!  Breslau  paid  about  $80; 
Wiirzburg  gave  $37 ;  Cologne  could  not,  for  a  time,  raise 
$50;  and  the  smaller  cities  ranged  from  that  sum  down 
to  about  $25 !  These  payments,  of  course,  were  made  but 
once,  and  in  many  cases  he  found  it  so  difficult  to  get 
even  this  one  payment  that  he  finally  had  to  invent  a 
scheme  for  compelling  payment  in  advance  by  means 
of  a  postal  arrangement  which  he  called  a  Ztvangspass. 
Bremen  tried  to  dodge  all  payment  by  bringing  out  one 
of  the  operas  without  notifying  liim  at  all.  Moreover, 
tlie  operatic  "  gold-mine  "  was  soon  exhausted.    In  April, 


390  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

1852,  he  writes:  "The  receipts  I  can  count  upon  are 
becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  —  to  judge  by  Leipzig,  —  and 
I  must  deem  myself  lucky  if  during  this  whole  year  I 
get  something  from  Weimar  for  the  Flying  Dutchman.^' 
And  in  February,  1853,  after  Berlin  had  returned  his 
score : — 

"Kassel,  too,  has  now  demanded  the  score  of  Tannhduser : 
that,  I  think,  ends  the  matter,  and  I  count  on  no  further  theatre. 
So  that  I  now  can  overlook  my  profits  from  this  glorious  business : 
most  meagre  it  is,  and  I  must  thank  God  that  the  family  R.  con- 
tinues to  assist  me,  else  I  would  —  after  procuring  a  few  very 
necessary  supplies  for  the  house  and  for  personal  wear  —  again  be 
reduced  to  absolute  destitution  —  thanks  to  the  noble  assistance  of 
glorious  Germany." 

FRIENDS    IN   NEED 

The  friend  he  referred  to  as  R.  was  Frau  Julie  Ritter 
in  Dresden,  who  supplied  him  every  year  with  a  small  but 
regular  sum,  till  the  end  of  1856,  when  he  dispensed  with 
it.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  generosity  of  this  woman 
and  of  Franz  Liszt,  it  is  quite  probable  that  destitution 
would  have  driven  him  to  suicide,  which  frequently 
suggested  itself  to  him :  at  any  rate,  he  would  not  have 
been  able  to  write  the  poem  and  music  of  the  Nibelung^s 
Ring ;  perhaps  he  would  have  followed  the  plan,  which 
repeatedly  suggested  itself  to  him,  of  going  to  America 
to  make  his  fortune.  Whether  he  would  have  succeeded 
is  doubtful ;  he  certainly  did  not  succeed  when  he  tried, 
in  1855  and  1860,  to  make  his  way  in  London  and  Paris. 
His  day  had  not  yet  come. 

When  the  contribution  from  Frau  Ritter  was  ex- 
hausted, and  nothing  else  in  sight,  he  appealed  to  the 


FRIENDS  IN  NEED  391 

large-hearted  Liszt,  and  hardly  ever  in  vain.  Unfortu- 
nately Liszt  had  at  this  time  given  up  his  remunerative 
career  as  pianist,  which  had  yielded  him  thousands  in 
one  evening,  and  commenced  writing  compositions  for 
orchestra,  which  not  only  brought  him  no  profit,  but 
actually  entailed  on  him  the  expense  of  printing  them  for 
the  benefit  of  a  world  which  did  not  want  them.  He  had 
accepted  the  post  of  conductor  at  the  Weimar  Opera, 
with  an  annual  salary  of  less  than  $1000,  and  was  called 
upon  to  support  his  tliree  children  and  his  mother.  Yet 
he  usually  managed  to  find  something  to  help  out  his 
needy  friend,  either  in  his  own  pocket,  or  by  appeal- 
ing to  some  one  in  Weimar,  Vienna,  or  elsewhere.  A 
few  concerts,  one  might  think,  would  have  helped  radi- 
cally; but  Liszt  was  unwilling  to  play  any  more,  appar- 
ently for  social  reasons  connected  with  his  relations 
to  the  Weimar  Court  and  his  intended  marriage.  *'  The 
concert-career,"  he  writes,  "has  been  closed  for  me  more 
than  two  years,  and  I  cannot  incautiously  enter  it  again 
without  seriously  prejudicing  my  present  position,  and 
especially  my  future." 

Like  Eubinstein  and  other  great  virtuosi,  Liszt  threw 
his  money  out  of  the  window  with  both  hands  while  he 
had  plenty  of  it.  During  his  first  triumphal  tour  through 
Europe,  his  mother  sent  her  friend  Belloni  especially  to 
Paris  to  see  that  he  did  not  squander  all  his  earnings. 
He  was  the  most  prodigal  of  the  prodigal  race  of  artists, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  most  generous.  One  of  liis 
historic  achievements  was  his  doing  the  lion's  share  in 
earning  a  sum  sufficient  to  support  the  deaf  and  hel[)- 
less  song-comjioser,  Kobert  Franz,  through  life;  another, 
the  building  of  the  Beethoven  Monument  at  Bonn;  and 


392  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S    RING 

everybody  knows  how  lie  devoted  several  hours  almost 
daily  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life  to  teaching 
pupils,  talented  and  untalented,  without  ever  asking  a 
penny  in  payment.  Yet  when  the  Wagner-Liszt  Corre- 
spondence appeared,  the  Philistines  raised  a  tremendous 
outcry  over  the  revelation  that  Wagner,  when  he  had  no 
other  resource  open  to  him,  asked  Liszt,  a  dozen  times  or 
so,  to  send  him  money.  ^ 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  the  bitterest  grief  of  Liszt's 
life  that  he  could  not  send  his  friend  v^ore  than  he  did, 
and  the  deepest  joy  of  his  existence  that  Wagner  had 
chosen  him  as  his  bosom  friend  and  protector. 

"  It  is  the  task  of  my  life  to  prove  worthy  of  your  friendship," 
he  exclaims  in  one  letter;  and  in  another:  "I  have  declared  our 
maxim  to  be :  that  our  iirst  and  principal  duty  at  Weimar  is  to 
give  Wagner's  operas  selon  le  ban  plaisir  de  Vauteur.''''  Again: 
"  My  sympathy  for  you,  and  my  admiration  of  your  divine  genius, 
are  truly  too  serious  and  too  sincere  to  allow  me  ever  to  take 
offence  at  any  opinion  you  may  express."  "  On  reading  your  last 
letter  I  wept  bitter  tears  over  your  tortures  and  wounds."  "Of 
the  close  of  the  Preface  to  the  three  opera  poems  I  do  not  speak. 

1  There  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  German  journalism  more  revolt- 
ing than  the  tone  of  many  of  the  criticisms  that  were  written  on  the 
appearance  of  tlie  Wagner-Liszt  Correspondence.  The  same  nation  that 
had  ignored  its  Bach,  that  had  kept  its  Schubert  in  such  poverty  that 
his  brother  had  to  pay  for  his  funeral,  that  had  buried  its  Mozart  with 
half-a-dozen  other  paupers,  in  one  grave,  without  even  marking  it,  — 
this  same  nation  sat  and  quietly  endured  the  spectacle  of  journalistic 
harpies  defiling  the  memory  of  Richard  Wagner  with  their  scurrilous 
comments.  Will  the  decent  Germans  ever  rise  in  revolt  at  this  inde- 
cent treatment  of  their  men  of  genius  ?  I  fear  not.  To  realize  how 
incredibly  brutal  German  Philistinism  is,  we  should  recall  the  fact  that 
when  the  government  had  voted  a  pension  to  the  poor  deaf  Robert 
Franz  for  his  masterly  edition  of  Bach  and  Handel,  a  clique  was  formed 
against  him,  which  succeeded  in  getting  the  pension  revoked  !  Fortu- 
nately, the  two  Hunf/arians,  Liszt  and  Joachim,  provided  him  with  the 
means  for  keeping  the  wolf  from  the  door. 


FRIENDS  IN  NEED  393 

It  touched  me  in  my  heart  of  hearts,  and  I  wept  a  manly  tear  over 
it."  "I  cannot  say  anything  else  to  you  than  that  I  am  constantly 
thinking  of  you,  and  that  I  love  you  with  my  inmost  heart." 

^Vlaen  affairs  at  Weimar  began  to  take  an  nnfavorable 
turn  for  Liszt,  owing  to  petty  and  vulgar  intrigues,  lie 
wrote  that  only  his  interest  in  Wagner  kept  him  there; 
in  short,  he  looked  on  the  promotion  of  Wagner's  cause 
as  the  chief  mission  of  his  life,  to  which  he  subordinated 
even  his  own  creative  activity.  "  How  good,  how  wise, 
how  tender,  and  patient  he  is,  I  know,"  says  the  Princess 
von  Wittgenstein  in  one  of  the  cordial  letters  to  Wagner 
which  are  printed  with  those  of  her  friend  Liszt.  Dr. 
Hanslick  says  of  Wagner's  letters:  — 

"There  is  something  positively  unmanly,  indecorous,  in  the 
voluptuous  eagerness  with  which  Wagner  nurses  his  own  dejection 
and  despair ;  still  more  in  the  way  in  which  he  thrusts  every 
despondent  mood,  every  momentary  gi'ief,  with  a  thousand  thorns 
into  his  friend's  heart." 

This  is  the  Philistine  view  of  the  matter.  What  the 
genius,  Liszt,  thought  of  it,  has  been  shown  in  the  cita- 
tions just  made,  and  is  summed  up  by  the  Princess  in 
these  words  to  Wagner :  "  Your  letters  afford  us  such  a 
joy  as  gold  pieces  would  bring  to  sufferers  accustomed 
only  to  blows  or  to  common  copper  coin.  We  implore 
you  to  bestow  this  alms  on  us  often,  since  it  does  not 
impoverish  you." 

We  may  go  a  step  farther  and  assert  that  Liszt's  let- 
ters in  this  Correspondence  are  less  interesting  than  his 
friend's,  chiefly  for  the  very  reason  that  he  is  less 
egotistic,  and  but  rarely  pours  out  his  griefs  and  joys 
into  the  other's  heart.     Egotism,  in  common  mortals  a 


394  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNCVS   RING 

vice,  is  ill  the  works  and  letters  of  luen  of  genius  tlie 
supreme  virtue.  Psychology  is  enriched  by  every  scrap 
of  ejiistolary  information  imparted  by  genius  in  moments 
of  confidence  or  excitement.  Wagner  repeatedly  implored 
Liszt  to  be  less  reserved  in  his  personal  coimuunications, 
but  Liszt  seemed  to  prefer  to  make  his  letters  little  more 
than  echoes  —  answers  to  his  questions  and  commissions, 
encouragement  to  work,  advice  to  be  diplomatic,  to  avoid 
politics,  to  be  courteous  to  Philistines,  etc. ;  and  it  is  only 
in  the  later  period  that  he  has  also  some  interesting  com- 
munications regarding  his  own  compositions.  But  in 
one  respect  Liszt's  letters  are  unique  and  marvellous: 
they  are  a  monument  to  his  kindness  of  heart  and  self- 
obliteration  in  the  interest  of  a  friend,  such  as  no  other 
artist  has  ever  reared  for  himself. 

Next  to  Liszt,  Uhlig  was  the  most  useful  and  devoted 
friend  of  the  exiled  composer.  We  saw  in  a  preceding 
chapter  how  this  gifted  musician  had  been  converted 
from  a  scoffer  into  a  friend,  and  had  even  given  up  his 
own  career  as  composer  in  order  to  place  himself  com- 
pletely at  the  service  of  a  man  who  could  write  such  an 
opera  as  Tamilmuser  and  interpret  a  Beethoven  sym- 
phony as  he  did.  Uhlig  was  the  first  journalistic  cham- 
pion of  Wagner,  the  first  Wagnerite.  He  wrote  articles 
for  the  Neue  Zeitsclirift  fur  Musik  and  other  papers,  of  a 
decidedly  radical  and  fearless  nature,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  his  statement  that  he  considered  Liszt's  Prome- 
theus to  be  worth  more  than  all  Mendelssohn!  Wag- 
ner frequently  suggests  a  topic  to  him;  advises  him  on 
one  occasion  to  drop  polemics,  on  another  to  treat  the 
enemy  only  from  a  humorous  point  of  view.  To  him 
he  sent  advance  copies  or  the  manuscript  of  his  essays, 


FRIENDS  ly  NEED  395 

with  a  view  to  a  discussion  of  their  contents  in  the  press. 
Uhlig  not  only  attended  to  all  this  with  the  zeal  of  a 
convert  and  enthusiast,  but  he  became  Wagner's  general 
commissioner  or  agent,  tending  to  the  sale  of  scores,  to 
negotiations  with  theatres  (so  far  as  Liszt  did  not  look 
after  that),  paying  obligations  due,  raising  loans,  making 
alterations,  copying,  etc.  He  also  made  the  excellent 
pianoforte  score  of  Lohengrin.  Of  course,  for  some  of 
these  services,  Uhlig,  who  was  as  poor  as  a  church- 
mouse,  was  paid ;  but  no  money  could  have  paid  for  his 
patient  work  in  behalf  of  his  exiled  friend.  Wagner  is 
constantly  apologizing  in  his  letters  for  his  incessant 
calls  on  Uhlig's  good  nature;  but  Uhlig  was  not  only 
glad  but  proud  of  his  position,  which  he  insisted  on 
retaining  even  when  his  last  illness  had  brought  him  to 
death's  door.  Wagner  was  persistently  urging  him  to 
leave  Dresden  and  come  and  live  with  him  in  Switzer- 
land to  restore  his  health.  Once  Uhlig  did  scrape  up 
enough  money  to  visit  Zurich;  but  sliortly  after  his 
return  he  began  to  succumb  gradually  to  lung  disease. 
The  last  letters  to  him  are  full  of  tender  solicitude  and 
hygienic  advice;  Wagner  wants  him  to  come  and  share 
his  home;  but  on  Jan.  3,  1853,  he  died,  and  the  loss  to 
the  world  was  as  great  as  Wagner's  personal  loss ;  for  had 
Uhlig  lived  ten  years  longer,  we  should  doubtless  have 
another  volume  of  letters,  full  of  valuable  details  regard- 
ing the  most  interesting  period  in  Wagner's  life  —  the.. 
later  years  of  liis  exile,  during  which  lie  wrote  his  great- 
est works  —  most  of  the  Nibelung's  Rivg  besides  Tristan 
and  Isolde.  Uhlig  has  had  his  reward  for  his  sacrifice 
and  devoted  friendship.  As  a  composer,  he  would  have 
sunk  into  oblivion   lung  ago;    as   Wagner's   first   i)ress 


396  WELDING    THE  NIBELVNG'S  EING 

champion  and  principal  correspondent  (after  Liszt),  his 
name  will  live  forever  in  musical  literature. 

After  Uhlig's  death  Fischer  became  chief  commis- 
sioner, till  he  too  died,  in  1859,  at  the  ripe  age  of  sixty- 
nine,  while  Uhlig  was,  like  Schubert,  carried  away  at 
thirty-one.  The  personal  relations  between  Wagner  and 
Fischer  were  as  cordial  as  those  with  his  other  friends ; 
but  the  old  chorus-master  was  something  of  a  Philistine 
who  did  not  understand  the  great  reformer's  ideas  fully, 
nor  know  how  to  make  allowance  for  his  eccentricities 
and  moods,  as  Liszt  and  Uhlig  did.  Hence  Fischer  was 
constantly  taking  offence  at  something  or  other  that 
Wagner  said  or  did,  — always  ready,  however,  to  for- 
give, to  listen  to  his  explanatory  and  apologetic  pleas. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  passages  in  Wagner's 
letters  to  most  of  his  friends  which  it  must  have  taxed 
their  good  nature  to  overlook.  He  knew  this  himself 
better  than  any  one;  and  on  one  occasion  he  wrote  to 
Uhlig:  — 

"Truly,  in  our  intercourse,  if  one  of  us  two  need  to  make  an 
apology,  it  is  I  once  and  always.  Pay  no  attention  if,  now  and 
then,  something  in  my  letters  vexes  you.  Unfortunately,  I  am 
often  in  such  bitter  humor,  that  it  almost  affords  me  a  cruel  relief 
to  offend  some  one ;  ^  this  is  a  calamity  which  only  makes  me 
the  more  deserving  of  pity." 

HYGIENE    AND    GASTRONOlVrZ 

Surely  the  disappointments  and  annoyances,  domestic 
and  artistic,  pecuniary  and  operatic,  to  which  Wagner 

1  The  amiable  Schumann,  in  one  of  his  private  letters,  uses  almost 
the  same  words  that  I  have  here  italicized,  in  describing  one  of  his  own 
occasional  moods.  George  Sand  generalizes  this  trait  in  the  remark 
that  men  of  genius  "  are  worse  to  their  friends  than  to  their  enemies." 


HYGIENE  AND    GASTRONOMY  397 

was  subjected  almost  daily,  are  sufficient  to  account  for 
all  the  moods  discharged  in  his  letters,  even  those  in 
which  his  best  friends  had  to  serve  as  lightning  rods. 
But  there  were  other  clouds  to  darken  his  life  and  occa- 
sion electric  discharges  of  temper:  the  darkest  of  these 
was  his  ill  health,  which,  as  Liszt  once  suggested  to  him, 
was  really  the  source  of  much  of  his  misery  and  pessi- 
mism. "Wagner,  in  fact,  is  one  more  name  added  to  the 
long  list  of  men  of  genius  who  lived  to  a  good  old  age 
and  accomplished  an  enormous  amount  of  Avork  although 
they  seldom  enjoyed  perfect  health.  We  have  seen  that 
in  his  infancy  he  had  a  mild  attack  of  the  typhoid  fever 
which  ravaged  Leipzig  after  the  great  and  decisive  battle 
with  the  French:  this  attack  may  have  weakened  his 
system  permanently. 

He  was  delicate  throughout  his  childhood,  and  erysip- 
elas, a  disease  which  harassed  him  all  his  life,  made  its 
appearance  during  his  schooldays.  "Every  change  in 
the  weather  was  a  trouble  to  him,"  says  Praeger:  — 

"As  regards  the  loss  of  his  eyebrows,  an  affliction  which  ever 
caused  him  some  regret,  Wagner  attributed  it  to  a  violent  attack 
of  St.  Anthony's  fire,  as  this  painful  malady  is  also  called.  An 
attack  would  be  preceded  by  depression  of  spirits  and  irritability 
of  temper.  Conscious  of  his  growing  peevishness,  he  sought  refuge 
in  .solitude.  As  soon  as  the  attack  was  subdued,  his  bright  animal 
spirits  returned,  and  none  would  recognize  in  the  daring  little 
fellow  the  previovus  taciturn  misanthrope. ' ' 

The  annoyance  and  torture  caused  by  this  disease  in 
later  years  was  sometimes  almost  past  bearing.  For 
instance,  in  the  winter  of  1855-6  he  had  no  fewer  than 
twelve  relapses.  "I  had  foreseen  tliis  last  attack,"  he 
writes  to  Liszt, 


398  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

"and  had  therefore  been  subjected  to  constant  anxiety  and  tor- 
ture during  Tichatsclieli's  twelve-day  visit ;  this  abominable  dis- 
ease has  degraded  me  deeply :  in  May  alone  I  had  three  relapses, 
and  even  now  hardly  an  hour  passes  by  in  which  I  do  not  dread  a 
new  eruption.  Hence  I  am  not  fit  for  any  work,  and  it  is  evident 
that  I  must  seek  a  radical  cure.  This  calls  for  a  painfully  con- 
scientious regulation  of  my  diet  and  habits  of  life  ;  the  slightest 
irregularity  in  stomach  or  bowels  immediately  affects  my  malady. 
Absolute  quiet  is  called  for,  avoidance  of  all  excitement,  all  annoy- 
ances, etc.,  further  Karlsbad  water,  certain  warm  baths,  later  cold 
ones,  etc." 

What  made  this  pertinacious  disease  especially  unbear- 
able to  him  was  the  fact  that  exposure  to  the  air  often 
brought  on  a  new  attack.  He  was  thus  compelled  to 
spend  weeks  at  a  time  indoors,  and  this,  to  a  man  so 
devoted  to  fresh  air  and  out-door  exercise,  was  torture 
indescribable. 

Dyspepsia,  insomnia,  and  rheumatic  heart-trouble  took 
turns  with  erysipelas  in  lowering  his  vitality.  Both 
the  insomnia  and  the  heart -trouble  were  probably  mere 
sequels  of  the  dyspeptic  trouble,  which  was  partly  a 
result  of  his  starvation  period  in  Paris,  while  partly  he 
was  himself  to  blame.  Like  so  many  brain- workers,  he 
maltreated  his  stomach.  He  ate  too  fast,  thus  making 
the  stomach  do  work  that  should  have  devolved  on  the 
teeth.  Whenever  he  was  in  condition  to  write  he  worked 
too  hard,  too  persistently,  and  neglected  the  precaution 
of  leaving  off  some  time  before  a  meal.  He  probably  did 
not  know  that  this  is  a  frequent  cause  of  dyspepsia 
among  authors;  but  in  a  general  way  he  knew  that 
he  was  misbehaving,  physiologically  speaking;  for  in  a 
letter  to  Frau  Eitter  ^  he  says :  — 

1  Langhans's  Geschichte  der  Musik,  p.  492. 


HYGIENE  AND   GASTRONOMY  399 

"  In  composing,  I  usually  work  excessively,  and  also  provoke  the 
just  indignation  of  my  wife  by  being  late  at  meals :  so  that  I 
always  begin  the  second  half  of  the  day  in  a  most  amiable  mood." 
In  a  letter  to  F.  Heine  he  thus  sums  up  the  whole  matter :  "  As  to 
my  gloomy  days,  I  can  the  rather  keep  silence,  as  they  mostly  come 
from  overwork  and  nervous  exhaustion  ;  for  then  I  certainly  look 
with  an  eye  of  despair  on  the  wretchedness  of  the  present  order  of 
things." 

Liszt  —  who  had  an  excellent  digestion  —  he  apostro- 
phizes thus :  "  Provide  yourselves,  O  ye  unfortunate  men, 
with  good  digestions,  and  suddenly  life  will  present  an 
entirely  different  aspect  from  what  you,  with  your  gastric 
trouble,  have  been  able  to  see !  "  And  he  proceeds,  with 
humorous  exaggeration,  to  trace  all  the  evils  of  politics, 
diplomacy,  vanity,  and  science  to  —  disordered  abdomens. 

Ill  health  devoured  a  great  deal  of  valuable  time  and 
energy  that  otherwise  might  have  been  converted  into 
immortal  works  of  art.  Sometimes  he  could  only  work 
two  or  three  hours  a  day  (in  place  of  his  former  five  or 
six),  a  few  hours  of  sleep  being  necessary  after  this  exer- 
tion, in  order  to  rest  his  brain.  In  September,  1852,  he 
found  that  even  one  short  hour  was  all  the  work  he  could 
endure.  Theoretical  writing  was  especially  fatiguing  to 
him,  and  after  such  exertion,  "  a  sharp  knife  often  cuts 
into  my  cerebral  nerves,"  he  says.  So  carefully  did  he 
have  to  husband  his  strength  that  he  rarely  permitted 
himself  to  write  —  even  letters  —  in  the  afternoon  or 
evening.  Matters  were  aggravated  whenever  that  pecu- 
liarly disagreeable  and  depressing  warm  wind  known  as 
the  Fohn  blew,  as  it  often  does  in  Switzerland  for  weeks 
at  a  time.  Indeed,  Wagner  was,  like  most  men  of  gen- 
ius,^ peculiarly  susceptible  to  climatic  and  atmospheric 

1  See  Lombroso's  The  Man  of  Genius. 


400  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

influences.  Winter  was  his  abomination,  and  he  usually 
postponed  the  beginning  of  a  new  composition  till  spring 
or  summer. 

The  suicidal  thoughts  which  he  says  visited  him  fre- 
quently were  no  doubt  inspired  by  a  combination  of 
these  physiological  disturbances  with  some  depressing 
news  relating  to  his  operas.  In  his  sober  moments 
nothing  was  farther  from  his  thoughts  than  the  notion 
of  ending  his  life  voluntarily.  When  not  urged  into 
imprudent  excess  by  the  demon  of  unrest  and  the  deli- 
cious craving  for  creative  work,  he  formulated  a  set  of 
hygienic  rules  which  he  carefully  followed.  Unfortu- 
nately he  had  no  good  medical  advice,  but  tried  to  diag- 
nose his  own  malady  by  reading  books.  This  led  him 
repeatedly  to  submit  to  hydropathic  treatment;  and  most 
heroically  did  he  carry  out  for  weeks  at  a  time  such  an 
exacting  regimen  as  this :  — 

"This  is  how  I  spend  my  day:  1.  Early,  at  half- past  five, 
wrapping  up  in  a  wet  sheet  till  seven  o'clock ;  then  cold  tub  and 
a  walk.  Eight  o'clock,  breakfast :  dry  bread  and  milk,  or  water. 
2.  Again  a  short  walk ;  then  a  cold  compress.  3.  About  twelve 
o'clock,  rubbing  down  with  damp  towels ;  a  short  walk  ;  another 
compress.  Then  dinner  in  my  room,  to  avoid  indigestion.  An 
hour's  idleness  ;  a  stiff  walk  of  two  hours  —  alone.  4.  About  five 
o'clock;  rubbing  down  with  a  wet  cloth,  and  a  short  walk.  5.  About 
six  o'clock  a  hip-bath,  lasting  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  followed  by 
a  walk  to  promote  circulation ;  another  compress  ;  supper  about 
seven  o'clock  ;  dry  bread  and  water.  6.  Then  a  w^hist  party  until 
nine,  after  which  another  compress,  and  then  about  ten  o'clock 
to  bed.  I  bear  this  regime  very  well  now ;  perhaps  I  shall  still 
increase  it." 

He  soon  found  that  this  treatment  was  altogether  too 
much  of  a  good  thing  for  him,  and  concluded  that  —  since 


HYGIENE  AND   GASTRONOMY  401 

he  could  not  afford  to  go  to  Paris  and  put  himself  iu 
charge  of  a  specialist  —  careful  and  long-continued  diet- 
ing was  his  best  remedy.  In  July,  1853,  he  went  to  St. 
Moritz  in  the  Engadine  to  see  what  the  hot  springs 
there,  noted  as  a  remedy  for  dyspepsia,  would  do  for 
him,  combined  with  an  altitude  of  six  thousand  feet. 
The  surroundings  were  grand,  but  he  felt  lonely  and 
deserted;  glacier  expeditions  did  not,  in  his  then  physi- 
cal condition,  agree  with  him,  and  the  weather  was 
unfavorable,  so  that  he  longed  to  leave,  and  seek  sunny 
Italy.  "  Whether  this  cure  has  done  me  any  good,  the 
sequel  must  show, "  he  writes :  "  on  the  whole  I  have  no 
desire  to  repeat  it;  I  am  too  restless  to  give  up  all 
activity  for  so  long  a  time;  in  short,  I  am  not  a  man  for 
'cures'  —  I  can  see  that  now."  He  was  right;  had  he 
better  understood  the  art  of  loafing  (mentally),  his  health 
would  have  suffered  less,  and  he  would  have  found  it 
easier  to  follow  Liszt's  advice  that  he  should  ignore  the 
critics,  drink  a  bottle  of  good  wine,  and  work  his  way 
up  to  life  immortal. 

It  is  almost  pathetic  to  note  his  childish  joy  on  the 
occasional  days  Avhen  he  felt  perfectly  well.  "  My  light- 
ness of  head  and  general  state  of  bodily  well-being  open 
up  to  me  a  new  world,"  he  exclaims  on  one  occasion; 
and  on  another :  — 

"  For  the  last  three  days  my  bodily  health  has  so  improved,  that 
I  often  feel  in  the  highest  spirits :  it  is  the  light  healthy  blood  which 
is  now  filling  my  veins.  Besides,  fine  weather  has  set  in  with  the 
new  moon.  I  often  feel  at  times  like  these  as  if  I  were  gently  and 
pleasantly  intoxicated.  Oh  !  what  is  all  wine  intoxication  com- 
pared with  this  feeling  of  most  joyful  ease,  which  often  has  no 
moral  foundation  1 " 


402  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

It  was  one  of  the  maxims  of  these  water-cures  that  all 
stimulants  —  tea,  coffee,  wine,  tobacco,  etc.  —  must  be 
given  up.  For  a  while  he  submitted  to  this  patiently, 
drinking  only  water  and  milk.  Before  long,  however, 
he  found  that  milk  did  not  agree  with  him,  as  it  pro- 
duced acidity  of  stomach,  whereupon  he  launchetl  out 
into  a  terrific  tirade  against  the  lacteal  fluid,  declaring 
that  warm  milk  is  the  proper  nourishment  of  infants,  but 
that  no  animal  drinks  cold  milk,  and  that  to  put  such 
milk  into  the  stomach  of  an  adult  —  especially  one  whose 
nerves  are  in  a  state  of  constant  activity  —  simul- 
taneously with  meat,  is  an  absurdity.  Then  he  gives 
this  gastronomic  formula,  which  is  an  excellent  one  for 
brain-workers :  — 

"The  right  thing  for  us  is  — enjoy  everything,  but  within  the 
bounds  of  moderation,  as  taught  by  self-observation  and  experience. 
As  coffee  (generally)  is  hurtful  to  my  nerves,  I  take  roast  meat  — 
preferably  game  —  early  in  the  day,  with  a  draught  or  two  of  good 
wine.  Your  oat  meal  gruel  does  not  please  me:  so  take  game  — 
hare  !  Game,  while  providing  a  maximum  of  nourishment,  requires 
a  minimum  of  digestive  power;  and  it  is  imperative  for  you  to 
gain  strength  through  nourishment." 

As  regards  the  use  of  wine,  he  expresses  strong  disap- 
proval of  those  who  are  unable  to  be  social  without  half 
intoxicating  themselves.  One  time  he  relates  how  he 
has  resorted  to  English  cookery,  —  vegetables  boiled  in 
water,  and  meat  roasted  on  a  spit,  which  his  wife  had  to 
procure  specially,  —  and  then  he  continues :  — 

"Last  Monday,  in  honor  of  our  wedding  anniversary,  my  Swiss 
confederates  spent  the  evening  at  my  house.  They  boozed,  as  is 
their  wont ;  and  my  disgust  at  this  hard  drinking,  without  which 
these  unfortunate  fellows  have  not  a  spark  of  mirth  or  wit,  com- 


HYGIENE  AND   GASTRONOMY  403 

pletely  convinced  me  of  my  real  cure.  I  can  no  longer  conceive 
that  anything  could  happen,  or  that  I  could  fall  into  any  misfortune, 
which  would  make  me  again  have  recourse  to  wine,  beer,  etc.  So 
I  revel  in  an  enjoyment  of  health  of  which  —  as  I  now  consciously 
feel  it  —  I  had  no  conception." 

Tliis  was  iu  1851,  but  his  good  health  did  not  last,  as 
we  have  seen;  neither  did  his  resolution  to  abjure  vv'ine; 
and  later  on  he  returned  to  a  sensible  maxim  expressed 
on  an  earlier  occasion,  that  "  although  it  is  through  water 
that  we  become  healthy,  we  are  not  really  healthy  until 
we  are  also  able  to  drink  wine  in  moderation." 

Kor  could  he  prevail  upon  himself  to  give  up  the  dis- 
agreeable habit  of  taking  snuff,  to  which  he  was  a  real 
slave.  In  August,  1853,  various  things  had  happened  to 
inspire  him  with  a  tcedium  vitce  and  suicidal  thoughts : 
"  To  heal  my  diseased  cerebral  nerves,  my  physician  has 
persuaded  me  to  give  up  snuff  once  for  all :  I  have  now- 
abstained  for  six  days,  and  what  that  implies,  none  but 
as  passionate  a  snuff-taker  as  myself  can  imagine.  I  see 
now  that  snuff  was  really  the  only  pleasure  which  I  had 
'on  and  off  ' :  now-  I  have  to  let  that  go  too.  My  present 
sufferings  are  indescribable,  but  I  shall  persevere,  that's 
certain.  Therefore  —  no  more  snuff-boxes:  hereafter  1 
shall  only  accept  orders."  The  playful  turn  with  which 
this  lamento  is  closed  is  almost  as  characteristic  a  trait 
of  Wagner  as  of  Heine. 

A  few  years  later  we  find  him  again  more  devoted  to 
snuff  than  ever.  Praeger  describes  a  scene  in  London 
(1855)  when  Wagner  sat  at  the  piano,  playing  from  bis 
own  scores  and  Weber's,  when  he 

"abruptly  stopped  singing,  on  finding  his  snuff-box  empty,  and 
got  into  a  childish,  petty  fit  of  anger.     He  turned  to  us  in  deepest 


404  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S   RING 

concern  with  '  Kein  Schnupftabak  mehr,  also  Kein  Gesang  mehr' 
(no  more  snuff,  so  no  more  songs)  ;  and  though  we  had  reached 
the  small  houi's  of  early  morn,  would  have  some  one  sent  in  search 
of  this  necessary  adjunct." 

Praeger  says  that  Wagner  did  not  really  care  for  snuff, 
but  this,  as  a  preceding  quotation  shows,  is  absurd.  It 
may  be,  however,  that  he  "  allowed  the  indelicacy  of  the 
habit "  and  knew  that  it  aggravated  his  dyspepsia.  He 
was,  in  a  word,  a  slave  to  snuff.  For  smoking  he  cared 
less. 

LOVE   OF   NATURE    AND    TRAVEL 

Keaders  of  musical  biographies  are  aware  that  most  of 
the  great  composers  were  passionate  lovers  of  Nature  — 
of  the  beautiful  scenes  and  the  inspiring  solitude  it  offers, 
far  away  from  the  haunts  of  men.  Beethoven  confessed 
that  he  often  preferred  the  company  of  a  tree  to  that  of 
a  man ;  many  of  his  best  musical  ideas  came  to  him  on 
his  daily  walks,  listening  to  the  sounds  of  Nature,  or  to 
the  strains  evoked  spontaneously  in  his  brain.  Mozart 
composed  (mentally)  always  and  everywhere,  in  a  stage- 
coach as  easily  as  in  his  workroom;  but  his  favorite 
abode  was  an  open  garden-house :  here,  he  said,  he  could 
compose  more  in  a  day  than  in  a  closed  room  in  several 
days.  Weber,  like  these  masters,  composed  preferably 
on  his  solitary  walks,  and  so  did  Wagner.^ 

There  were  some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  among  whom 
Berlioz  may  be  named,  who  confessed  that  he  could  not 
"  sketch  the  moon  except  in  looking  at  its  image  reflected 
in  a  well."  To  Wagner,  he  wrote,  in  1855:  "So  you  are 
about  to  melt  the  glaciers  by  composing  your  Nibelungen  ! 

1  Details  on  these  habits  of  the  great  composers  are  collected  in  my 
Chopin,  and  Other  Mvsical  Essays  ("How  Composers  Work")- 


LOVE   OF  NATURE  AND    TRAVEL  405 

.   .   .     That  must  be  superb,  to  write  thus  in  presence  of 
a  grand  nature ! " 

So  Wagner  thought,  and  his  great  and  constant  desire 
while  in  Switzerland  was  to  have  a  house  of  his  own 
overlooking  a  lake,  with  the  mountains  beyond.  This 
desire  was  not  an  outcome  of  mere  love  of  luxury  and 
elegance,  but  an  instinctive  craving  for  the  scenic  splen- 
dors and  cool  breezes  which  stimulate  artistic  creation. 
Not  that  he  did  not  also  have,  like  most  artists,  a  great 
craving  for  luxury:  he  was,  in  fact,  inclined  to  epicurism, 
even  sybaritism,  and  the  greatest  marvel  about  him  is 
that,  with  such  a  disposition,  he  should  have  chosen,  in 
devotion  to  his  art-ideal,  a  life  of  debt  and  privation, 
when  he  might  have  revelled  in  wealth  and  luxury  if  he 
liad  only  been  willing  to  write  more  operas  d.  la  Meyer- 
beer, like  Rienzi.  He  speaks,  in  one  of  his  letters  to 
Liszt  of  the  Verschwendungsteufel,  or  demon  of  extrava- 
gance, which  took  possession  of  him  in  furnishing  a  house 
beyond  his  means.  In  another,  dated  Nov.  16,  1853, 
he  explains  that  the  uncertainty  of  his  operatic  income 
and  the  sanguine  habit  of  hoping  for  more  than  he  actually 
gets  leads  him  to  spend  more  than  he  has ;  and  he  con- 
fesses his  "  doubtless  censurable  habit  of  leading  a  some- 
what more  comfortable  life  than  in  the  last  few  years." 
liut  these  extravagances  were  confined  to  very  narrow 
limits  by  the  smallness  of  his  income;  and  the  only 
times  when  they  reached  a  more  considerable  sum  were  on 
the  occasions  when  he  indulged  his  passion  for  travel,  to 
see  the  natural  beauties  of  Switzerland  and  Italy.  Surely 
it  would  be  most  uncharitable  to  chide  the  poor,  ill,  hard- 
working composer,  whose  every  fibre  craved  rest  and 
recreation,  for  indulging  his  taste  for  domestic  comfort 


406  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

and  once  in  a  while  tliat  for  travel,  even  if  he  had  to  do 
so  at  the  expense  of  the  willing  Liszt. 

"  Oh  if  I  only  conld  for  once  make  a  pleasant  journey 
this  Slimmer!"  he  exclaims  in  April,  1852:  "If  I  only 
knew  how  to  go  about  it.  .  .  .  This  yearning  for  travel 
is  so  intense  in  me  that  it  has  already  inspired  me  Avith 
the  thought  of  a  burglarious  and  murderous  attack  on 
Eothschild  &  Co."^  On  another  occasion,  two  months 
before  his  fortieth  birthday,  when  all  his  schemes  seemed 
to  fail,  and  he  was  tormented  by  sleepless  nights,  he 
wrote  that  he  must  have  a  change  in  his  life : 

"I  shall  try  to  get  money,  m  every  conceivable  way:  I  shall 
borrow  and  — steal  — if  necessary,  in  order  to  get  the  means  to 
travel.  The  more  beautiful  part  of  Italy  is  closed  to  me  (as  long 
as  I  am  not  amnestied)  ;  hence  I  shall  go  to  Spain,  to  Andalusia, 
shall  seek  companions  —  and  try  once  more  to  live,  as  well  as 
I  may.  I  should  like  to  make  a  trip  around  the  world !  If  I  fail 
to  get  money  — or  — a  this  trip  also  fails  to  put  fresh  breath  into 
my  life  — then  — there  is  an  end,  and  sooner  will  1  commit  suicide 
than  continue  to  live  in  this  way." 

From  his  home  in  Zurich  he  made  frequent  short 
excursions  into  the  Alps  and  among  the  glaciers;  the 
brief  descrijitions  of  these  trips  he  gives  to  his  friends 
show  that  mountains  were  as  much  a  passion  to  him  as  to 
Byron.  In  July,  1852,  Liszt  had  sent  him  |80  as  hono- 
rarium for  the  Dutchman  at  Weimar :  "  This  I  am  now 
spending  in  travelling.  Every  day  costs  me  a  number 
of  the  oj^era." 

^  This  sentence  and  the  following  one,  strange  to  say,  have  escaped 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett,  who  might  have  easily  proved  from 
these  self-confessions  that  Wagner  was  a  potential  thief  and  murderer, 
who  only  needed  an  opportunity  to  carry  out  the  black  designs  of  his 
villanous  soul. 


LOVE  OF  NATURE  AND   TRAVEL  407 

"I  have  now  been  travelling  for  six  days:  I  can  count  each 
day  by  my  treasury,  for  each  one  costs  me  regularly  a  twenty-franc 
piece.  It  is  splendid  here,  and  in  thought  I  have  travelled  much 
with  you.  Yesterday  I  descended  from  the  Faulhorn  (8261  feet). 
There  I  had  a  grand  and  awe-inspiring  view  of  the  mountain,  ice, 
snow,  and  glacier-world  of  the  Bernese  Oberland,  which  lies 
straight  before  one,  as  though  one  could  touch  it  with  one's  hands." 

He  adds  that  he  walks  well  and  is  sound  on  his  legs ; 
but  his  brain  is  too  excited,  and  he  never  has  true  rest, 
but  only  lassitude.     Yet 

"no  cure  in  the  world  is  of  any  avail  where  only  one  thing 
would  help  —  viz. ,  if  I  were  different  from  what  I  am.  The  real 
cause  of  my  sorrow  lies  in  my  exceptional  position  towards  the 
world  and  towards  my  surroundings,  which  can  no  longer  give 
me  any  joy;  everything  for  me  is  martyrdom  and  pain  —  and 
insufficiency." 

A  touch  of  Schopenhauer  follows  this  diagnosis  of  his 
discontent :  — 

"Again,  on  this  journey,  amidst  wonderful  nature,  have  the 
human  rabble  annoyed  me :  I  must  continually  draw  back  from 
them  in  disgust,  and  yet  —  I  so  long  after  human  beings; — but 
this  pack  of  lubbers !  Fie  upon  them  !  There  are  magnificent 
women  here  in  the  Oberland,  but  only  so  to  the  eye ;  they  are  all 
tainted  with  rabid  vulgarity." 

One  more  short  passage  may  here  be  quoted  by  way  of 
illustrating  Wagner's  literary  art  whenever  he  is  not 
hampered  by  motapliysical  stilts:  an  account  of  a  two 
days'  trip  over  the  Gries  glacier  from  Wallis,  through 
the  Formazza  valley,  to  Domodossola :  — 

"The  Gries  is  a  magnificently  wild  glacier  pass,  a  very  danger- 
ous one,  and  traversed  at  rare  intervals  by  people  from  the  Hash 
Valley  or  Wallis,  who  bring  southern  goods  (rice,  etc.)  from  the 
Italian  valleys.     For  the  first  time  on  my  journey  there  was  mist 


408  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

on  the  glacier  heights  (over  8000  feet),  so  that  my  guide  had  diffi- 
culty in  finding  a  path  over  the  cold  walls  of  snow  and  rock.  But 
the  descent !  leading  down  gradually  from  the  most  gruesome  ice- 
regions,  through  many  a  sloping  valley,  through  all  the  ranges  of 
vegetation  of  northern  Europe,  into  the  rank  luxuriance  of  Italy  ! 
I  was  quite  intoxicated,  and  laughed  like  a  child,  as  I  passed  out 
of  chestnut  groves  through  meadows  and  even  cornfields,  com- 
pletely covered  with  vine  trellises  (for  that  is  how  the  vine  is 
generally  cultivated  in  Italy),  so  that  I  often  wandered  under  a 
covering  of  vine  similar  to  our  verandas,  only  extended  over 
whole  acres,  on  which,  again,  everything  grows  that  the  soil  can 
produce.  And  then  the  ever-enchanting  variety  in  the  forms  of 
mountains  and  valleys,  with  the  most  delightful  cultivation,  charm- 
ing stone  houses,  and  —  all  through  the  valley  —  a  fine  race  of  men. 
Well,  I  cannot  describe  it  all,  but  I  promise  you  to  go  again  over 
the  Gries  glacier  with  you.  ...  In  the  evening  I  drove  in  a 
retour-coach  from  Domodossola  to  Baveno  on  Lago  Maggiore :  this 
trip  was  the  crowning  glory  ;  I  was  in  an  ecstatic  frame  of  mind 
when  at  last  I  passed  from  wild  grandeur  to  picturesque  loveliness. ' ' 

At  this  place  he  sent  for  his  wife,  and  with  her  con- 
tinued his  journey  to  Chamonix  and  Geneva.  He  had, 
for  years,  wished  to  see  Italy,  with  the  longing  of  a 
Goethe  —  especially  Naples,  which  for  political  reasons 
was  inaccessible  to  him  as  long  as  he  was  an  outlaw. 
"If  I  lived  in  Naples  or  Andalusia,  or  on  one  of  the 
Antilles,"  he  wrote  to  Liszt,  "I  would  write  much  more 
poetry  and  music  than  in  our  gray  nebulous  climate, 
which  always  disposes  us  only  to  abstract  speculation." 
This,  of  course,  was  a  winter  mood;  in  spring  and  sum- 
mer he  knew  full  well  that  the  Swiss  climate  is  an 
unequalled  brain-tonic  and  thought-stimulator,  and  I  am 
convinced  that  if  Fate-had~ordered  him  to  live  elsewhere 
than  among  the  bracing  Swiss  breezes,  there  would  be 
less  vigor,  originality,  and  freshness  in  his  Nibelung, 
Tristan,  and  Meistersinger  scores.         "  ^ 


COMPOSITION   OF  EHEINGOLB  409 


COMPOSITION   OF    RHEINGOLD 

In  September,  1853,  he  made  another  much  less  pleas- 
ant trip  to  Xorthern  Italy,  the  account  of  which  he 
summed  up  to  Liszt  in  half-a-dozen  lines :  — 

"In  Geneva  I  became  ill,  felt  with  alarm  my  solitariness, 
endeavored,  however,  to  force  the  Italian  trip  and  went  to  Spezia  ; 
the  indisposition  increased ;  enjoyment  was  out  of  the  question  : 
so  I  returned  (to  Ziirich) — to  die  or  —  to  compose  —  one  or  the 
other :  nothing  else  was  left  for  me  to  do.  There  you  have  my 
whole  travel  story  —  my  '  Italian  Trip. ' ' ' 

In  a  public  letter  to  the  Italian  composer,  Arrigo  Boito, 
"written  in  1871,  when  Lohengrin  was  being  produced  in 
Bologna,  he  again  refers  to  this  trip  and  its  connection 
with  Rheingold. 

"  Be  it  a  demon  or  a  genius  that  oft  rules  us  in  decisive  moments 
—  enough:  one  night,  when  I  was  lying  sleepless  in  a  tavern  at 
La  Spezia,  the  inspiration  to  my  Eheingold  music  came  over  me  ; 
and  forthwith  I  returned  to  my  melancholy  home  to  begin  my 
over-long  work,  the  fate  of  which  now,  more  than  anything  else, 
chains  me  to  Germany." 

By  this  we  must  not  understand  that  the  musical  themes 
for  the  Rheingold  poem  now  came  to  his  mind  for  the  first 
time ;  for,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter,  he  usually 
conceived  his  musical  motives  simultaneously  with  the 
writing  of  his  poems.  Tlie  passage  simply  means  that 
he  settled  in  his  mind  that  the  composition  of  Rheingold 
was  to  be  his  next  task.  He  had  hoped  that  before  com- 
mencing this  score  he  might  have  the  privilege  of  hear- 
ing his  Lohengrin.  "I  must  hear  Lohengrin  once:  I 
cannot  and  will  not  write  any  more  music  before  I  have 


410  WELDING   THE  NIBELUN&S  RING 

heard  that  opera."  This  sentiment  recurs  again  and 
again  in  his  letters.  Several  times  he  was  on  the  point 
of  going  to  Germany  in  disguise  to  realize  his  wish ;  had 
projects  for  settling  in  Paris  in  order  to  get  a  chance  to 
hear  at  least  some  fragments;  and  at  last  succeeded  in 
getting  together  an  orchestra  for  a  sort  of  Wagner  fes- 
tival in  Zurich  for  this  special  purpose.  Bvit  that  was 
all  he  succeeded  in  doing  in  this  direction.  Had  he  kept 
to  his  original  intention  of  not  composing  again  before 
he  had  heard  Lohengrin,  Rheingold  would  have  had  to 
wait  till  1859,  when  for  the  hrst  time  he  heard  that 
opera  in  Vienna.  By  that  time,  however,  he  had  already 
completed  Rheingold,  Walkilre,  half  of  Siegfried,  and  the 
whole  of  Tristan!  In  his  "Epilogue  on  the  Circum- 
stances and  Events  which  Accompanied  the  Execution  of 
the  Stage-Festival-Play,  The  Ring  of  the  Nihelung,  up  to 
the  Date  of  the  Publication  of  the  Poem  "  (Vol.  V.  377) 
he  sums  up  this  matter  concisely :  — 

"  With  great  elation  of  spirit  I  began,  after  five  years'  interrup- 
tion of  my  musical  productivity,  to  carry  out  the  composition  of 
Rheingold,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1853.  .  .  .  The  peculiar 
atmospheric  freshness  of  my  task,  like  bracing  mountain  air, 
carried  me  without  fatigue  through  all  the  difficulties  of  my  work, 
which  in  the  spring  of  1857  had  got  so  far  advanced  as  to  include 
Rheingold,  Walk'ure,  and  a  great  portion  of  Siegfried^ 

It  is  odd  that  here,  as  in  his  letters,  Wagner  should 
speak  of  a  Jive  years'  interruption  of  his  composition, 
when  in  fact  more  than  six  years  elapsed  between  the 
two  operas  in  question.  Lohengrin  was  completed  on 
Aug.  28,  1847,1  while  it  was  not  till  October,  1853,  that 

1  The  instrumentation,  it  is  true,  was  not  completed  tiU  the  follow- 
ing spring. 


COMPOSITION  OF  EHEINGOLD  411 

he  wrote  to  Liszt:  "To-day  Bheingold  coursed  through 
my  veins :  if  it  must  be,  aud  if  it  caimot  be  otherwise, 
you  shall  presently  have  a  work  of  art  which  will  give 
you  —  joy(?)!"  Six  months  before,  he  had  already 
expressed  his  confidence  in  the  Nibelung  music  in  these 
words :  "  Only  let  me  once  throw  everything  else  aside 
in  order  to  dive  once  more  into  the  fountain  of  music, 
and  there  shall  be  created  sounds  that  will  make  the 
people  hear  what  they  cannot  see." 
On  Dec.  17  he  writes  again :  — 

"  I  am  spinning  myself  in  like  a  silk- worm  ;  but  also  from  within 
myself  am  I  spinning.  Five  years  I  have  written  no  music.  Now 
I  am  in  the  Nibelheim :  to-day  Mime  tells  his  woes.  Unluckily 
I  had  a  bad  cold  last  month,  wliich  made  me  interrupt  my  work 
for  ten  daj's,  else  I  would  have  finished  the  sketch  of  the  whole 
score  before  the  end  of  the  year.  .  .  .  However,  it  must  be  finished 
by  the  end  of  January." 

He  kept  his  word;  for  on  Jan.  15,  1854,  he  writes  to 
Liszt: — 

"Well,  Bheingold  is  done — more  so  than  I  expected.  With 
what  faith,  with  what  joy,  I  began  this  music  !  In  a  real  frenzy  of 
despair  I  have  at  last  continued  and  completed  it :  alas,  how  I  too 
was  walled  in  by  the  need  of  gold  !  Believe  me,  no  one  has  ever 
composed  like  this  ;  I  fancy  my  music  is  fearful ;  it  is  a  pit  of  ter- 
rors and  grandeurs.  Soon  I  shall  make  a  clear  copy,  —  black  on 
white,  —  and  that,  in  all  probability,  will  be  the  end  of  it.  Or  shall 
I  perhaps  allow  it  also  to  be  performed  at  Leipzig  for  twenty  louis 
d'or  ?  .  .  .  You  are  the  only  one  whom  I  have  told  about  this. 
No  one  else  suspects  it,  least  of  all  those  who  are  about  me." 

Shortly  afterwards  Heine  was  informed  that  Rheingold 
had  been  commenced  early  in  November:  "I  got  so  en- 
thusiastic over  it  that  until  it  was  finished  I  had  neither 


412  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

ears  nor  eyes  for  anything  else."  In  April  he  wrote  to 
Liszt  that  he  was  at  work  on  the  instrumentation,  and 
that  by  May  everything  would  be  finished  —  in  pencil 
sketches,  which  would  require  copying.  On  May  27,  to 
Fischer :  "  In  these  last  days  I  have  once  more,  after  a 
long  interval,  finished  a  score  {Rhelngold) :  my  fanatic 
interest  in  my  work  was  towards  the  end  so  great  that  I 
postponed  all  letter-writing  to  its  completion." 

Hardly  was  Rheingold  completed  when  Die  Walkure  was 
begun.  ^  In  August,  1854,  he  was  already  hard  at  work 
on  the  sketch  of  the  score.  In  October  he  sent  the 
Rheingold  score  to  Liszt,  with  the  information  that  he 
had  got  into  the  second  act  of  the  Walkure ;  in  December 
the  sketch  was  finished,  and  the  following  February, 
1855,  he  had  about  completed  the  scoring  of  Act  I.,  when 
his  work  siiffered  a  long  and  serious  interruption  by  his 
four  months'  absence  to  conduct  a  season  of  Philhar- 
monic Concerts  in  London.  We  must  therefore  postpone 
further  details  regarding  that  drama  till  we  have 
described  that  event,  which  forms  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting episodes  in  his  life.  Before  passing  on  to  it  we 
must,  however,  speak  of  another  important  composition 
written,  or  rather  rewritten,  a  few  months  before  the 
journey  to  London,  besides  considering  Wagner's  merits 
as  a  conductor,  by  way  of  prelude  to  his  London  conduc- 
torship. 

A   FAUST   OVERTUEE 

It  will  be  remembered  that  he  wrote  a  concert  piece, 
which  he  called  an  Overture  to  Goethe's  Faust,  in  the 
winter  of  1839-40,  in  Paris,  in  the  midst  of  his  struggles 

1  He  actually  postponed  the  copying  of  his  pencil-sketch  of  Rhein- 
gold in  his  eagerness  to  commence  the  new  drama. 


A   FAUST  OVERTURE  413 

to  earn  his  bread  and  to  win  recognition  as  a  composer. 
It  had  been  really  intended,  as  he  explained  some  years 
later,  to  form  the  first  movement  of  a  grand  Faust  sym- 
phony. It  was  rehearsed  for  a  Conservatoire  concert, 
but  not  performed,  because  the  directors  concluded  after 
the  rehearsal  that  it  was  too  enigmatic.  In  Dresden  it 
was  performed  in  July  and  Aiigust,  1844,  but  met  with 
a  very  cold  reception  by  the  public  and  critics.  Regard- 
ing this  result  Eoeckel  wrote  to  Praeger :  — 

"  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at ;  for  in  the  judgment  of  some 
here  it  compares  favorably  with  the  grandest  efforts  of  Beethoven. 
Such  a  work  ought  to  be  heard  several  times  before  its  beauties  can 
be  fully  appreciated." 

In  1852,  Liszt  brought  out  this  overture  at  Weimar, 
and  Wagner  wrote  to  thank  him  for  it,  adding:  — 

"I  cannot  feel  indifferent  to  this  composition,  even  if  there  are 
many  details  in  it  which  would  not  flow  from  my  pen  to-day  :  what 
especially  suits  me  no  longer  is  the  somewhat  too  frequent  use  of 
brass.  1  If  I  knew  that  Ilartel  would  give  me  a  handsome  sum 
for  it,  I  should  almost  feel  inclined  to  publish  the  score  with  a  ver- 
sion for  the  pianoforte,  only  I  need  to  be  urged  ;  for,  of  my  own 
impulse,  I  do  not  like  to  luidertake  such  a  thing." 

The  plan  seemed  to  take  hold  of  his  mind;  for,  not  long 
after  this,  he  begged  Liszt  to  send  him  the  score  with  a 
view  to  its  revision  and  publication.  Liszt  immediately 
forwarded  it,  and,  with  apologies,  made  a  few  sugges- 
tions (Letters,  No.  86)  as  to  how  it  might  be  inaproved, 
especially  by  the  addition  of  a  tenchn-  (Iretchen  melody. 
Wagner  replied  that  he  was  "truly  delighted"  with  his 
friend's  suggestion,  and  complimented  him  on  his  saga- 

1  The  overture  was  written  about  the  time  when  the  brassy  Rienzi 
was  completed. 


414  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  BING 

city  in  having  felt  that  there  was  something  mendacious 
about  a  piece  wliich  pretended  to  be  an  overture  to 
Goethe's  Faust  and  in  which  woman  is  absent:  — 

"  But  perhaps  you  would  immediately  comprehend  my  tone- 
poem  if  I  named  it  Fanst  in  Solitude.  When  I  composed  it  I 
intended  to  write  a  complete  Faust  symphony  ;  the  first  movement 
(actually  written)  was  simply  this  Solitary  Faust,  in  his  longing, 
despair,  and  cursing  ;  the  '  womanly '  only  hovers  over  his  fancy 
as  a  figment  of  his  desire,  but  not  in  its  divine  reality :  and  this 
insufiicient  image  of  his  longing  is  precisely  what  he  demolishes  in 
despair.  It  was  to  be  left  for  the  second  movement  to  bring  for- 
ward Gretchen  —  the  woman.  I  had  the  theme  for  it  already, 
but  it  remained  a  mere  theme  —  the  matter  was  dropped.  —  I 
wrote  my  Flying  Dutchman.  —  There  you  have  the  whole  explana- 
tion. If  now  —  from  motives  of  vanity  and  weakness  —  I  am 
unwilling  to  let  this  composition  perish  entirely,  I  must  indeed 
work  it  over  —  but  only  as  to  the  instrumentative  Modulation  ;  the 
theme  which  you  desire  cannot  possibly  be  introduced  now ;  that 
would  make  it  an  entirely  new  composition,  which  I  have  no  desire 
to  undertake.  But  if  I  publish  it,  I  shall  give  it  the  correct  title  : 
Faust  in  Solitude,  or  Solitary  Faust,  a  tone-poem  for  orchestra." 

In  his  reply  Liszt  said  that  Hartels  would  gladly 
undertake  the  publication  of  the  overture,  and  once  more 
suggested  that  in  any  case  the  original  manuscript  would 
gain  by  further  elaboration.  ''  If  you  wish  to  give  me 
a  pleasure,"  he  adds,  "make  me  a  present  of  the  manu- 
script, when  it  is  no  longer  needed  by  the  printer.  This 
overture  has  been  so  long  with  me,  and  I  have  become 
greatly  attached  to  it !  "  This  was  toward  the  end  of  the 
year  1852;  and  there  the  matter  rested  till  Jan.  19,  1855, 
when  Wagner  again  wrote,  after  hearing  that  Liszt  had 
in  the  meantime  written  his  Faust  Symphony :  "  Absurdly 
enough,  I  have  been  seized  just  now  by  a  vivid  desire  to 
work  over  my  old  Faust  overture  again:   I  have  com- 


A  FAUST  OVERTURE  415 

posed  an  entirely  new  score,  have  written  the  instrumen- 
tation anew  throughout,  made  some  radical  changes,  also 
given  more  elaboration  and  significance  to  the  middle 
(second  motive).  In  a  few  days  I  shall  produce  it  at  a 
local  concert  [Zurich]  under  the  name  of  A  Faust  Over- 
ture. 

'  MOTTO. 

'  Der  Gott  der  uiir  im  Busen  wohnt, 

Kann  tief  mein  Innerstes  erregen  ; 
Der  iiber  alien  meinen  Kraften  thront 

Er  kann  nacli  aussen  niclits  bewegen  ; 
Und  so  ist  mir  das  Dasein  eine  Last, 
Der  Tod  erwiiuscht,  das  Leben  mir  verhasst ! ' 

In  no  case  shall  I  publish  it."  A  few  weeks  later  Liszt 
received  a  copy  of  the  score,  which  Wagner  was  afraid 
would  appear  to  him  very  insignificant  by  the  side  of  his 
own  Faust  Symjihony ;  and  he  explained  once  more  that 
of  Gretchen  there  could  be  no  question,  but  always  only 
of  Faust. 

The  intention  not  to  publish  the  score  was  of  course 
not  kept.  Liszt  sent  it  to  Hartel,  who  offered  twenty 
louis  d'or  (f  80)  for  it,  which  Wagner  accepted,  as  he 
happened  to  be  in  need  of  funds  in  London,  and  did  not 
like  to  ask  the  directors  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  to 
pay  his  salary  in  advance.  His  request  that  the  pub- 
lishers should  change  their  offer  from  twenty  louis  d'or 
to  twenty  pounds  sterling  was  not  granted.  But  Liszt 
delighted  him  with  this  assurance:  "The  changes  which 
you  have  made  in  the  Faust  Overture  are  splendid,  and 
have  decidedly  improved  the  work." 

The  critics  of  course  did  not  like  the  Faust  Overture, 
which  was  beyond  their  comprehension.     Some  of  them 


416  WELDING   THE  NIBELUNG'S  RING 

condemned  it  as  "  programme  music  "  d  la  Berlioz,  after 
finding  in  it  all  sorts  of  Mephistophelean  and  Gretchen 
motives  which  the  composer  had  never  dreamt  of.  Dr. 
Hanslick,  with  his  usual  keen  insight  and  vituperative 
vigor,  found  in  it  nothing  but  "an  impotence  which,  in 
spite  of  its  boastful  extravagance,  arouses  genuine  pity." 
Among  men  of  genius,  on  the  other  hand,  Liszt  was  not 
alone  in  discerning  at  once  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  a 
piece  which  Moscheles  praised,  and  for  which  in  our  day 
even  the  conservative  and  disappointed  Kubinstein,  with 
all  his  jealous  hatred  of  triumphant  Wagner,  has  con- 
fessed his  admiration.  In  1860,  Dr.  Hans  von  Biilow, 
who  is  universally  admitted  to  be  the  greatest  interpreter 
of  Beethoven  and,  in  general,  the  greatest  living  author- 
ity as  to  the  intellectual  interpretation  of  the  classical 
composers,  wrote  a  pamphlet  of  thirty-one  pages  ^  con- 
taining a  poetic  and  technical  analysis  of  this  tone-poem, 
some  of  the  most  important  points  in  which  may  here  be 
noted.  He  points  out  that  the  composition  in  question 
is  not  a  dramatic  overture  (like  Beethoven's  Coriolanus) 
nor  a  character-sketch,  but  an  embodiment  of  a  mood  — 
ein  Stimmungsgemdkle,  —  for  which  Liszt's  happily  in- 
vented term  of  "symphonic  poem"  might  be  used;  and 
he  proceeds  to  explain  how  a  piece  originally  intended 
as  the  first  movement  of  a  symphony  could  be  desig- 
nated an  "overture."  Then  he  notes  the  fact  that  "its 
subject  (poetic  content)  is  suffering,  —  not  the  j)ersonal 
suffering  of  a  certain  Faust,  but  sorrows  of  general 
human  import.  The  hero  therefore  is  not  Goethe's 
Faust,  but  humanity  itself."     The  reader  knows  that  the 

1  Ueber  Richard  Wagner's  Faust-Overture.  Eine  erldnternde  Mit- 
theilung  an  die  Dirigenten,  Spieler  und  Horer  dieses  Werkes.  Leipzig: 
F.  Kahnt,  1860. 


A   FAUST  OVERTURE  417 

Faust  Overture  was  written  in  Paris,  vuuler  the  influence 
of  a  magnilicent  performance  at  the  Conservatoire  of 
Beethoven's  Ninth  Symphony.  Between  this  work  and 
Wagner's  overture,  Biilow  discovers  an  emotional  resem- 
blance, and  he  adds  this  further  detail :  — 

"During  his  residence  in  Paris,  at  the  time  when  the  Fatist 
Overture  originated,  Wagner  copied  for  himself  the  score  of  the 
Ninth  Sympliony,  which,  note  for  note,  remained  so  indelibly  im- 
pressed in  his  memory  that  he  was  able,  in  1846,  when,  after  a 
long  pause,  the  Ninth  Symphony  was,  thanks  to  his  efforts,  brought 
again  before  the  Dresden  public  as  practically  a  novelty,  to  conduct 
all  the  rehearsals  from  memory.'''' 

Wlien  we  consider  that  in  his  Nibelung  dramas  Wagner 
opened  up  to  us  a  new  world  of  orchestral  coloring,  com- 
pared with  which  even  the  beauties  of  Lohengrin  lose 
some  of  their  lustre;  and  when  we  consider  that  the 
Faust  Overture  was  written  at  the  same  time  as  the  second 
of  these  dramas,  —  Die  Walkiire,  —  we  find  it  perfectly 
natural  that  Biilow  should  have  exclaimed  that  this 
overture  constitutes  "a  complete  practical  course  in 
instrumentation  " ;  what  we  marvel  at,  and  what  future 
generations  will  marvel  at  more  and  more,  is  that  the 
professional  critics  and  other  "experts"  did  not  at  once 
recognize  the  exquisite  orchestral  and  harmonic  novelties 
in  the  Faust  Overture,  and  that  its  reception  at  first 
almost  everywhere  amounted  to  a  fiasco. 

Doubtless  the  most  ludicrous  of  all  the  charges  ever 
brouglit  against  Wagner  —  and  it  has  been  brought  time 
and  again  —  is  that  he  wrote  music-dramas  because  he 
was  unable  to  master  the  symphonic  form  sufficiently  to 
write  satisfactory  concert  pieces.  Apart  from  the  fact 
that  in  liis  early  youtli  he  wrote  a  symphony  of  per- 


418  WELDING    THE  NIBELUNG'S  EING 

fectly  correct  form,  tlie  woful  ridiculousness  of  this 
charge  is  brought  out  by  the  fact  that  any  talented  con- 
servatory pupil  can  be  taught  to  write  a  "  correct "  sym- 
phony. Third-rate  composers  like  Lachner,  Pleyel, 
Macfarren,  wrote  "correct"  symphonies  by  the  dozen. 
It  is  interesting  to  hear  what  Billow,  the  great  authority 
on  classical  form,  has  to  say  on  this  topic :  — 

"  It  is  not  possible  to  compose  with  more  perfect  organic  unity 
of  form  tlian  Wagner  has  done  in  the  Faust  Overture.  Place  any 
'  classical '  overture  with  an  '  Introduction '  by  its  side,  and  see  if 
Wagner's  tone-poem  does  not  throw  it  into  the  shade  even  for- 
mally." And  as  for  the  content,  he  exclaims  that  "  not  only  tonal, 
but  general  emotional  life  courses  through  every  vein  of  its  form. 
Every  note  is  written  with  a  poet's  blood." 

Finally  I  will  quote  a  passage  from  Billow's  pamphlet 
which  cannot  be  too  much  commended  to  critics  and 
amateurs :  — 

"The  new  musical  forms  of  Wagner  escaped  notice  for  the 
reason  that  they  were  new  and,  as  it  were,  too  colossal.  We  allude 
here  not  so  much  to  the  iinished  art  of  the  second  finale  of  Tann- 
hduser,  to  which  even  Professor  Bischoff  did  justice, i  as  rather,  for 
example,  to  the  first  act  of  Lohengrin.  Is  not  that  a  dramatic 
symphony  cast  in  one  mould,  perfect  in  form?  The  poet  here 
imposed  upon  the  composer  the  necessity  of  erecting  a  tonal  struc- 
ture, to  which,  IN  REGARD  TO  BROADNESS  OF  DEVELOPMENT  AND 
IMMENSITY    OF    CLIMAX,    NO    PROTOTYPE    EXISTED.       If   yOU  will  COn- 

scientiously  study  this  part  in  its  main  features,  you  will  be  unable 
to  deny  that  Wagner  has  created  here,  specifically  in  regard  to 
form,  something  absolutely  new,  an  artistic  whole,  built  up  with- 
out any  leaning  on  predecessors." 

1  What  generous  condescension  on  the  part  of  so  great  a  man !  "  Who 
wns  Professor  Bischoff,"  did  you  say?  Why,  he  was  —  well,  he  is  now 
known  as  the  man  who  invented  the  term  "music  of  the  future"  in 
derision  of  Wagner's  Art-Work  of  the  Future.  In  his  day  he  was  a 
rouch-feared  musical  critic. 


A   FAUST  OVEllTURE  419 

When  Biilow  wrote  this,  Lohengnu  was  the  latest  and 
most  mature  of  Wagner's  oi)eras.  But  if  the  above  is 
true  of  Lohengrin,  —  and  to-day  no  one  would  be  so  fool- 
ish as  to  deny  it,  —  what  shall  we  say  to  the  amazing 
formal  mastery  shown  in  the  last  act  of  the  Gotterddm- 
mrniig? 

With  that  in  mind,  I,  for  my  part,  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  this  overwhelming  climax,  in  which  all  the 
motives  of  the  whole  Tetralogy  are  woven  into  a  web 
of  wondrous  complexity  yet  perfect  perspicuity,  makes 
Beethoven's  form  seem  mere  child's  play  in  comparison, 
and  surpasses  even  the  polyphonic  ingenuity  of  Bach's 
genius.^ 

1  It  takes  some  courage  to  make  such  an  assertion  to-day ;  but  I 
have  no  fear.  The  history  of  music  has  shown,  during  the  last  half- 
century,  that  those  were  always  nearest  the  truth  who  were  most  dar- 
ing in  their  admiration  of  Wagner's  genius. 


WAS  WAGNER  A  GREAT  CONDUCTOR? 

The  Faust  Overture,  like  the  Siegfried  Idyl  and  various 
operatic  overtures  and  preludes,  shows  what  Wagner 
might  have  accomplished  as  a  composer  for  the  concert- 
hall  had  not  his  poetic  endowment  craved  as  intensely 
for  expression  as  his  musical  genius,  thus  urging  him 
with  every  fibre  into  the  music-drama.  More  wisely 
than  some  other  composers,  he  recognized  his  true  sphere 
at  an  early  period,  and  limited  his  efforts  almost  exclu- 
sively to  that.  He  knew  that  he  was  primarily  a  great 
dramatic  composer,  and  it  was  only  when  creating  music- 
dramas  that  he  was  thoroughly  happy  and  contented; 
here  his  revolutionary  mind  could  have  everything  its 
own  way,  and  all  his  mental  powers  were  called  into 
healthful  and  pleasurable  activity;  whereas  in  writing 
concert  pieces  his  poetic  faculty  would  lie  dormant;  and 
if  he  tried  any  practical  work,  —  such  as  conducting,  — 
the  doings  of  many  of  the  executing  artists,  and  the  gen- 
eral inadequacy  of  means,  fell  so  far  short  of  his  ideals 
that  he  suffered  indescribable  tortures  —  tortures  which 
were  increased  if  the  baton  was  wielded  by  another,  less 
competent  conductor,  in  his  presence.  Hence,  in  course 
of  time,  he  conceived  a  great  aversion  to  all  practical 
connection  with  the  stage,  while  yet  feeling  that  his  pres- 
ence was  imperatively  called  for  if  correct  interpretations 
were  to  be  obtained. 
420 


A    THOROUGH  DRILL-MASTER  421 

This  sensitiveness  in  regard  to  inadequate  perform- 
ances was  of  course  not  a  unique  trait  of  Wagner's,  but 
is  characteristic  of  all  great  artists.  Berlioz,  for  ex- 
ample, wrote:  — 

"  It  is  excessively  painful  for  me  to  hear  the  greater  part  of  my 
compositions  played  under  any  direction  other  than  my  own.  I 
almost  had  a  fit  while  listening  to  my  overture  to  King  Lear  in 
Prague,  conducted  by  a  Kapellmeister  whose  talent  is  yet  un- 
doubted. It  is  conceivable  what  I  suffered  from  even  the  involun- 
tary blunders  of  Habeneck  during  the  long  assassination  i  of  my 
opera  Benvenuto  Cellini  at  rehearsals." 

Similarly,  Beethoven  wrote,  when  they  were  rehears- 
ing his  Fidelio  in  Vienna:  — 

"  Pray  try  to  persuade  Sey fried  to  conduct  my  opera  to-day,  as 
I  wish  to  see  and  hear  it  from  a  distance  ;  in  this  way  my  patience 
will  at  least  not  be  so  severely  tried  by  the  rehearsal  as  when  I  am 
close  enough  to  hear  my  music  so  bungled.  I  really  believe  it  is 
done  on  purpose.  Of  the  wind  I  will  say  nothing,  but — .  AW  pp., 
cresc,  all  deer  esc,  and  all  /.,//.,  may  as  well  be  struck  out  of  my 
music,  since  not  one  of  them  is  attended  to.  I  lose  all  desire  to 
write  anything  more  if  my  music  is  to  be  so  played." 

Judge  from  such  confessions  whether  Wagner  exagger- 
ated when  he  exclaimed  that  he  often  suffered  "  all  the 
tortures  of  Dante's  inferno  "  with  reference  to  the  per- 
formances of  his  operas. 

A   THOROUGH    DRILL-MASTER 

It  does  not  follow  by  any  means  that  because  a  com- 
poser suffers  from  poor  performances  of  his  works,  and 
knows  exactly  how  they  ought  to  be  interpreted,  he  will 

'But  Berlioz  had  no  pity  for  Wagner  at  the  "assassination"  of 
Tannhduser  by  Dietsch  at  the  Opera  in  1861. 


422  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

for  that  reason  make  a  first-rate  conductor  even  of  his 
own  works,  any  more  than  it  follows  that  a  great  poet 
must  necessarily  be  a  good  reader  of  his  verses  or  those 
of  others.  Some  of  the  greatest  composers  were  but 
indifferent  conductors,  nervousness,  preoccupation,  or 
diffidence  making  them  poor  commanders  of  a  large 
force  of  obstreperous  singers  and  players.  As  a  rule  it 
will  be  found  that  operatic  or  dramatic  composers  are 
better  conductors  than  the  writers  of  concert  music, 
probably  because  dramatic  composition  is  more  directly 
allied  to  action.  We  should  therefore  naturally  expect 
Wagner  to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  conductors  of 
all  times,  and  this  supposition  is  borne  out  by  all  the 
documents. 

Just  as  there  are  two  classes  of  pianists,  one  of  which 
is  perfect  in  technical  execution,  but  on  the  side  of  inter- 
pretation and  expression  is  subject  to  the  charge  of 
monotony,  coldness,  or  arbitrariness,  while  the  other 
class  is  less  perfect  technically,  but  appeals  more  forcibly 
to  the  emotions ;  so  there  are  two  kinds  of  conductors, 
perfect  drill-masters  on  one  side,  who  appeal  primarily 
to  the  intellect  by  their  precision  and  accuracy,  while  on 
the  other  hand  we  have  those  whose  mission  is  to  sway 
the  emotions.  To  which  of  these  two  classes  did  Wagner 
belong?  The  accounts  given  in  earlier  chapters  of  his 
conducting  at  Magdeburg,  Riga,  and  Dresden,  both  in 
the  opera-house  and  concert -hall,  show  that  he  united  the 
merits  of  both  classes.  As  we  are  now  approaching  the 
period  when,  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life,  he 
accepted  a  special  post  as  conductor  of  concerts  (in  Lon- 
don), this  is  the  proper  place  for  considering  his  fitnees 
for  such  a  position  more  closely. 


A    THOROUGH  LRILL-MASTER  423 

That  he  was  a  wonderful  drill-master,  his  most  rabid 
opponents  never  denied.  The  great  Moritz  Hauptmann, 
for  example,  who  immortalized  himself  by  the  prediction 
that  "not  one  note  of  Wagner's  music  will  survive  him," 
calls  attention  to  his  talent  as  a  regisseur :  "  He  arranges 
everything  on  the  stage,  down  to  the  smallest  details, 
and  all  with  tact  and  ingenuity.  —  He  seems  to  me 
rather  an  artist  of  a  thousand  faculties  ( TausendJciinstler) 
than  of  one." 

In  accomplishing  such  results  in  concert-hall  or  opera- 
houses  as  have  been  described  in  the  preceding  chapters, 
he  spared  neither  singers  nor  players.  But  he  him- 
self worked  hardest  of  all,  so  hard  that  whenever,  later 
in  life,  he  had  brought  a  work  on  the  stage  to  his  satis- 
faction, he  always  suffered  from  nervous  prostration  for 
weeks.  No  trouble  was  considered  too  great;  he  would 
even  take  individual  members  of  an  orchestra  and  drill 
them  till  they  could  play  their  part  with  proper  expres- 
sion. Thus,  writing  to  Ulilig  (Xo.  5G)  about  a  concert 
in  Zurich,  he  says:  "'The  Egmont  entr^acte  I  had  prac- 
tised with  the  oboist  in  my  own  room,  as  if  he  were  a 
singer :  the  fellow  could  not  contain  himself  for  joy  at 
what  he  at  last  produced."  With  the  singers  he  was  of 
course  always  ready  to  go  through  such  a  performance. 

After  assigning  the  parts  of  a  new  opera,  the  first 
thing  Wagner  did  —  and  it  seems  strange  that  no  one 
before  him  should  have  thought  of  such  a  seemingly 
essential  thing  —  was  to  have  all  the  singers  meet  for  a 
"reading  rehearsal,"  each  artist  reading  his  or  her  role, 
while  he  himself  (or  the  stage-manager),  score  in  hand, 
pointed  out  the  relation  of  the  verses  to  the  music  and 
the  scenic  situation.     Then,  in  rehearsing  their  roles  at 


424  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

home,  the  singers  had  the  initial  advantage  of  seeing 
every  song  in  its  proper  dramatic  and  scenic  relation. 
As  regards  the  orchestra,  he  worked  hard  not  only  to 
secure  mechanical  precision,  but  also  to  attain  proper 
acoustic  effects  by  a  new  arrangement  of  the  players. 
Roeckel  alludes  to  this  point  in  one  of  his  Dresden  let- 
ters to  Praeger : — 

"  He  deemed  it  advisable  to  rearrange  the  seating  of  his  band  ; 
but  oh  !  the  hubbub  it  has  produced  is  dreadful.  '  What !  change 
that  which  has  satislied  Morlacchi  and  Reissiger  ?  '  They  charge 
Wagner  with  want  of  reverence  for  tradition  and  with  taking 
delight  in  upsetting  the  established  order  of  things." 

That  is  apt  to  be  a  trait  of  reformers  —  fortunately  for 
the  cause  of  progress. 

PRINCIPLES   OF   INTERPRETATION 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  Liszt  from  London,  Wagner 
exclaims :  "  Odd  was  the  confession  made  to  me  by  Men- 
delssohnites,  that  they  had  never  heard  such  a  good  per- 
formance of  the  Hebrides  overture,  or  understood  it  so 
well,  as  when  it  was  given  under  my  direction."  This, 
however,  was  rather  exceptional.  While  acknowledging 
that  he  was  a  good  drill-master,  and  that  he  had  endeav- 
ored to  bring  out  the  good  points  of  even  the  flimsiest 
Italian  or  French  operas,  the  pedantic  critics  insisted 
that  in  his  interpretation  of  the  classics  he  violated  the 
traditions.  To  expose  the  hollowness  and  hypocritical 
offensiveness  of  this  pretence,  we  need  only  consider  for 
a  moment  the  treatment  accorded  to  these  great  masters 
by  their  contemporaries,  who  are  supposed  to  have  handed 
down  these  "traditions."     The  contemporaries  of  Bach 


PRINCIPLES   OF  INTERPRETATION  425 

(born  1685)  so  far  from  collecting  "traditions,"  had  not 
a  shadow  of  an  idea  as  to  what  a  giant  Avas  living  among 
them.  Very  few  of  his  pieces  were  printed  during  his 
lifetime  (some  by  his  own  hand) ;  the  greatest  of  them 
were  practically  unknown  till  half  a  century  ago,  and  the 
others  have  been  printed  for  the  first  time  within  the 
last  few  years.  ''Traditions,"  indeed!  With  Mozart,  of 
course,  it  was  otherwise.  So  anxious  were  the  Viennese 
musicians  to  preserve  all  the  "  traditions  "  they  could  pos- 
sibly get  hold  of,  that  they  allowed  a  coterie  of  jealous 
Italians  to  maltreat  his  Figaro  so  badly  that  when  he  had 
written  his  next  opera,  Don  Juan,  he  took  it  to  Prague 
for  the  first  performance,  in  order  to  save  it  from  a 
similar  fate  in  Vienna.  Schubert,  the  divinest  dispenser 
of  melody  the  world  has  ever  seen,  wrote  two  symphonies 
which  have  never  been  excelled  in  all  the  essentials  of 
music  —  original  melody,  harmony,  rhythm,  and  instru- 
mentation. One  of  these  symphonies  the  Viennese  musi- 
cians allowed  to  lie  in  a  heap  of  manuscripts  for  ten  years 
after  Schubert's  death,  till  Schumann  came  down  from 
Leipzig  and  gave  it  to  an  astonished  world  as  an  absolute 
novelty.  "Traditions,"  indeed!  Even  Beethoven,  who 
had  some  recognition  Avhile  he  lived,  usually  had  to  put 
up  with  the  most  shamefully  inadequate  means  for  bring- 
ing out  his  great  symphonies;  and  as  he  was  deaf  during 
the  last  twenty-five  years  of  his  life,  he  could  not  prop- 
erly interpret  his  works  and  thus  establish  "traditions." 
When  he  still  did  conduct,  —  e.g.  when  he  brought  out 
his  Eroica  Symphony,  —  there  was  no  wild  demand  for 
"traditions,"  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  criticisms 
quoted  in  Thayer's  Beethoven  biography  (II.  275),  one 
of  which  concludes  with  the  information  that  — 


426  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

"  To  the  public  the  symphony  seemed  too  difficult,  too  long,  and 
Beethoven  himself  too  impolite,  since  he  did  not  nod  even  to 
those  who  did  applaud.  Beethoven,  himself,  on  the  contrary, 
found  that  the  applause  was  insufficient." 

Some  time  after  Beethoven's  death,  when  Wagner 
returned  from  his  trip  to  Vienna,  he  found  that  so  emi- 
nent a  conductor  as  Dionys  Weber  in  Prague  still  re- 
garded the  Third  Symphony  as  a  monstrosity  (Unding), 
and  we  have  seen  how  dissatisfied  the  youthful  Richard 
was  with  the  German  performance  of  the  Ninth  Sym- 
phony, how  he  had  to  actually  force  it  on  the  Dresdeners, 
half  a  century  ago,  and  how  he  worked  constantly  with 
pen  and  baton  to  elucidate  the  works  of  Mozart  and  Bee- 
thoven, Gluck  and  Weber.  But  he  violated  tlie  "  tra- 
ditions " !  The  fact  that  his  musical  instinct  had  led  him 
to  scent  an  error  in  the  current  interpretation  of  Gluck's 
IpJnghiia  in  Ardis  overture,  which  had  escaped  even 
Mozart's  genivis,^  alone  ought  to  have  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  critics. 

An  anecdote  related  by  Wagner  himself,  in  his  essay 
On  Conducting,  shows  how  he  "  violated  the  traditions  " 
in  regard  to  another  great  master,  Weber :  — 

"Eighteen  years  after  Weber's  death,  when  I  conducted  his 
Freisch'utz  for  the  first  time  in  Dresden,  and  on  this  occasion, 
regardless  of  the  usage  observed  by  my  colleague  Reissiger,  also 
took  the  tempo  of  the  opening  bars  of  the  overture  according  to 
my  notions,  a  veteran  of  Weber's  time,  the  old  violoncellist 
Dotzauer,  turned  to  me  with  a  serious  mien,  and  said :  '  Yes,  that 
is  the  way  Weber  took  it ;  I  now  hear  it  correctly  again,  for  the 
first  time.'  On  the  part  of  Weber's  widow,  who  was  still  living  in 
Dresden,  this  proof  of  my  correct  feeling  for  the  music  of  her  long- 

1  See  the  essay  on  this  overture  in  Vol.  V.  of  the  Gesammelte 
SchriJ'ten. 


PRINCIPLES   OF  INTERPRETATION  427 

deceased  husband,  gave  rise  to  truly  cordial  wishes  for  my  pros- 
perous continuance  in  the  post  of  Dresden  conductor,  because,  as 
she  said,  she  could  now  take  up  again  the  hope,  so  long  given  up, 
to  her  gi'ief,  that  his  music  would  once  more  be  correctly  per- 
formed in  Dresden.  I  produce  this  eloquent  and  agreeable  testi- 
mony on  this  occasion,  because  in  opposition  to  diverse  other  ways 
of  judging  my  artistic  activity  as  conductor,  it  affords  me  a  pleasant 
reminiscence." 

On  a  later  occasion  he  taught  the  Viennese  orchestra 
how  to  play  the  Freischiitz  overture  in  his  (that  is, 
Weber's)  way;  the  effect  was  startling:  many  declared 
they  had  now  for  the  first  time  heard  this  piece  which 
constant  repetition  had  long  ago  rendered  threadbare. 
And  altliough  such  a  result  was  not  specially  compli- 
mentary to  tlie  conductors  who  had  so  long  misinterpreted 
this  piece,  Kapellmeister  Dessoff  had  the  good  sense, 
when  the  opera  was  given  again,  to  turn  to  his  musicians 
and  say,  with  a  smile:  "Well,  gentlemen,  let  us  then 
take  the  overture  d,  la  Wagner."  Upon  which  Wagner 
comments:  "Yes,  yes,  d  Za  Wagner!  I  believe,  gentle- 
men, that  many  other  things  might  be  taken  d,  la  Wagner 
without  harm."^ 

He  held  the  average  operatic  and  concert-conductor  of 
his  day  in  supreme  contempt,  and  for  very  good  reasons. 
Most  of  them  were  simply  orchestral  players  who  had 
advanced  to  their  important  position  without  having  any 
other  conception  of  their  duty  than  that  of  time-beaters. 
That  a  conductor  should  understand  every  orchestral 
instrument,  be  well  versed  in  musical  history,  and  in  all 
styles  of  music;  that  he  should  have  travelled,  so  as  to 

1  For  Wagner's  views  as  to  tlie  proper  reading  of  tlie  Frcisrhiitz  over- 
ture, the  Mtistersinyer  prelude,  and  the  Fifth  and  Eighth  syniphouies, 
Bee  the  essay  On  Conducting. 


428  WAGNER  AS  CONDUCTOR 

be  able  to  put  national  spirit  into  liis  readings;  that, 
besides,  he  should  be  a  man  of  general  culture,  —  these 
were  conditions  rarely  met  with  at  that  time.  Outside 
of  their  narrow  specialty,  musicians  were  mostly  ignorant 
fellows,  and  their  social  position  was  a  low  one.  In  Aus- 
tria, Haydn  and  Mozart  were  treated  little  better  than 
lackeys;  in  England,  when  Weber  visited  London,  the 
artists  were  separated  from  the  guests  by  a  cord  stretched 
across  the  room.  Beethoven  was  a  boor  in  conduct,  yet 
this  was  pardoned  in  society,  as  nothing  more  was  ex- 
pected of  a  musician.  When  the  composer  Marschner 
found  Wagner  exerting  himself  in  Dresden  to  give  his 
musicians  a  more  intellectual  interest  in  their  art,  he 
dissuaded  him,  remarking  that  the  musicians  were  abso- 
lutely incapable  of  understanding  him  (VIII.  383).  But 
Marschner  was  mistaken ;  for  Wagner  constantly  showed 
how  the  minds  of  these  players  could  be  aroused  by  his 
words ;  and  we  know  what  marvellous  results  followed. 

The  first  and  most  important  qualification  for  a  con- 
ductor is,  according  to  Wagner,  that  he  should  have  a 
correct  sense  of  tempo :  his  choice  of  that  shows  us  at 
once  whether  he  has  understood  the  composer  or  not. 
How  lamentably  his  own  operas  were  bungled  by  incom- 
petent time-beaters,  may  be  inferred  from  two  instances 
referred  to  by  himself:  on  one  occasion  7^/iem^oZd,  which 
should  last  two  hours  and  a  half,  was  dragged  out  to 
three  hours;  on  another,  the  Tannhdnser  overture, 
which,  under  the  composer's  direction  in  Dresden,  took 
twelve  minutes,  was  made  to  last  twenty!  Other  com- 
posers fared  no  better  at  the  hands  of  these  mechanical 
time-beaters.  His  impatience  with  them  is  illustrated 
by  two  anecdotes  related  by  Lesimple.     One  evening  at 


PRINCIPLES  OF  INTERPRETATION  429 

Cologne  Wagner  attended  a  performance  of  the  Magic 
Flute,  one  of  his  favorite  operas.  After  the  first  act  he 
hastily  left  the  theatre,  exclaiming  angrily:  "Such  a 
miserable  wretch  of  a  conductor  I  have  never  come  across 
in  all  my  life!"  On  another  occasion  he  related  this 
incident  to  Lesimple:  "On  the  Dresden  bridge  I  met 
Eeissiger  one  evening  at  nine  o'clock.  Astonished,  I  asked 
him,  'But,  my  dear  colleague,  have  you  no  opera  to  con- 
duct to-night? '  ^Have  conducted  it,'  was  his  reply  — 
'Masaniello  already  ended.'"  He  had,  like  a  barrel- 
organ  man,  ground  out  the  opera  as  quickly  as  possible, 
the  sooner  to  get  to  his  beer. 

When  conductors  of  national  reputation  behaved  in 
such  a  way,  what  use  was  there  in  putting  tempo  marks 
on  compositions?  Bach  was  wise,  he  exclaims,  in  leaving 
his  compositions  mostly  unprovided  with  such  marks: 
he  probably  reasoned  that  a  musician  who  could  not 
divine  their  tempo  would  not  be  likely  to  play  them  cor- 
rectly anyway.  In  regard  to  his  own  operas,  Wagner 
tells  us  that  he  supplied  the  earlier  ones  very  carefully 
and  minutely  with  tempo  marks  and  metronomic  figures ; 
but  this  did  not  prevent  them  from  being  bungled,  for  the 
conductors  had  no  conception  of  what  is  the  very  essence 
of  his  music  —  a  constant  modification  of  tempo. 

This  constant  modification  of  tempo  is,  in  his  opinion, 
the  essence  not  only  of  his  own  music,  but  of  Beethoven's ; 
it  is,  in  fact,  the  "  vital  principle  of  our  music  in  gen- 
eral"; neglect  of  it  is  as  fatal  as  playing  the  wrong 
notes.  How  much  the  efficacy  of  his  music  depends  on 
it  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  related  by  him  that 
when  he  himself  conducted  the  Meistersinger  overture  in 
Leipzig,  it  was  redemanded,  while  at  its  rep^ition,  some 


430  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

time  later,  by  the  same  orchestra,  but  with  a  metronomic 
conductor,  it  was  hissed.^ 

Wagner  intimates  that  the  metronomic  conductors 
would  have  long  since  killed  off  Beethoven's  symphonies, 
if  these  works  were  capable  of  being  killed;  they  con- 
tinued to  live  because  amateurs  of  taste  could  play  them 
at  home  on  the  piano.  That  he  was  right  in  insisting 
that  a  free  modification  of  tempo  is  almost  as  essential  in 
Beethoven's  works  as  in  his  own  we  know,  because  this 
was  Beethoven's  own  way  of  conducting  or  playing. 
Schindler  says :  — 

"Almost  everything  that  I  heard  Beethoven  interpret  was  free 
from  all  (metronomic)  rigidity  of  tempo  ;  it  was  a  tempo  rubato  in 
the  properest  sense  of  the  words,  as  conditioned  by  content  and 
situation.  .  .  .     It  was  the  most  distinct  and  vivid  declamation. " 

To-day  the  leading  orchestral  conductors  —  such  men 
as  Hans  Eichter,  Anton  Seidl,  Felix  Mottl,  Richard 
Strauss,  Arthur  Nikisch,  etc.  —  follow  Wagner's  ideas 
regarding  the  frequent  modification  of  tempo.  What 
these  ideas  are  may  be  indicated  in  a  few  words. 

The  two  typical  movements  in  music  are  the  slow 
adagio  and  the  fast  allegro.  In  a  certain  sense  it  may 
be  said  that  the  pure  adagio  cannot  be  taken  too  slowly; 
emotional  languor  is  here  the  source  of  delight;  the 
slightest  harmonic  change  is  a  surprise  and  gratification. 
Opposed  to  this  pure  adagio  is  the  pure  allegro,  as  we  see 
it  especially  in  Mozart's  overtures,  such  as  those  to  Figaro 
and  Don  Juan :  — 

1  Mr.  Seidl  related  to  me  that  when  Ferdinand  Hiller,  the  conserva- 
tive opponent  of  Wagner,  heard  him  (Seidl)  conduct  the  Tannhattser 
overture  with  the  correct  tempi,  he  exclaimed,  "  Ja,  so  gefallt  sie  mir 
auch!  "  — "  Ah!  that  way  I  like  it,  tool  " 


PRINCIPLES   OF  INTERPRETATION  431 

"Of  these  it  is  known  that  tliey  could  not  he  taken  fast 
enough  to  suit  Mozart ;  after  he  had  succeeded  in  whipping  his 
musicians  into  the  desperate  frenzy  which  to  their  own  surprise 
at  last  enabled  them  to  attain  the  presto  he  insisted  upon,  he 
exclaimed  :  '  Very  good  !  but  this  evening  a  trifle  faster.'  Correct ! 
Just  as  I  said  of  the  pure  adagio  that  in  an  ideal  sense  it  cannot  be 
iaken  too  slowly,  so  this  unmixed,  pure  allegro  properly  cannot 
oe  taken  fast  enough." 

This,  however,  is  true  only  of  the  old-fashioned 
Mozartean  allegro,  which  he  calls  the  "naive"  type. 
The  modern  type,  foreshadowed  in  Mozart's  symphonies, 
is  fully  revealed  in  Beethoven's  Eroica  and  the  sym- 
phonies following.  This  is  the  "sentimental"  allegro, 
that  is,  an  allegro  in  which  more  than  the  rhythmic 
excitement  of  a  dance-movement  is  aimed  at,  and  which 
is  in  fact  a  mixture  of  the  adagio  and  the  old  allegro, 
corresponding  to  the  complexity  of  modern  emotions. 
This  is  the  great  and  fundamental  truth  regarding  the 
Beethoven  symphonies,  which  Wagner's  predecessors 
had  failed  to  grasp.  They  conducted  them  like  dance- 
music  with  metronomic  regularity;  while  he  treated 
them  as  tone-poems,  modifying  the  tempo  according  to 
the  momentary  character  of  the  melody.  Here  lies  the 
essence  of  his  method:  in  the  search  for  the  melos,  the 
MELODY,  amid  all  the  rhythmic  figurations  and  compli- 
cations :  whenever  that  melody  has  a  plaintive  or  senti- 
mental character,  if  only  for  two  or  three  bars,  then  give 
those  two  or  three  bars  a  tempo  appropriate  to  a  plain- 
tive melody,  before  proceeding  with  the  regular  faster 
pace.  This  is  the  way  to  teach  an  orchestra  to  sing  an 
allegro  as  well  as  an  adagio;  for  in  Beethoven  there  is 
''melody  in  every  bar,  even  in  the  rests." 


432  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  superb 
essay  On  Conducting,  in  which  the  art  of  instrumental 
expression,  of  orchestral  singing,  is  for  the  first  time  for- 
mulated in  scientific  terms.  And  this  is  the  essay  which 
an  eminent  German  critic,  Heinrich  Ehrlich,  called  a 
Narrenmanifest  —  a  "fools' manifesto."  Readers  of  the 
letters  to  Liszt  (especially  during  the  Lohengrin  period) 
will  find  many  further  suggestive  hints,  such  as  this,  that 
the  same  theme  must  be  played  faster  or  slower  accord- 
ing to  the  dramatic  situation;  the  whole  aim  being  to 
make  operatic  music  less  like  dance-music,  and  more  like 
the  varied  emotional  flow  of  the  spoken  drama.  Read 
also  Letters  55  and  56  to  Uhlig,  with  instructive  remarks 
on  Mendelssohn's  way  of  conducting,  culminating  in 
these  two  sentences  which  throw  a  good  deal  of  light  on 
the  conductors  of  the  old  school  in  general :  — 

"  Mendelssohn's  performance  of  Beethoven's  works  was  always 
based  only  upon  their  purely  musical  side,  and  never  upon  their 
poetic  contents.  .  .  .  He  always  held  on  to  the  letter  with  the 
finest  of  musical  cleverness,  and  thus  was  like  our  philologists  who, 
in  their  exposition  of  Greek  poets,  must  always  point  out  the 
literal  characters,  the  particles,  the  various  readings,  etc.,  but 
never  the  real  contents."  ^ 

TESTIMONY   OF   EXPERTS 

The  magic  of  Wagner's  poetic  method  of  interpreta- 
tion, combined  with  his  almost  military  drill,  was  so 
great  that  even  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  hostile  camp 

1  Further  useful  hints  to  conductors  may  be  found  in  the  accounts 
of  the  Bayreuth  rehearsals  given  by  H.  Forges  in  the  Bayreiither  Blat- 
ter. Also  in  U  Art  de  Diriger  V Orchestra,  by  M.  Kufferath,  who  noted 
the  peculiarities  and  method  of  Hans  Richter,  Wagner's  pupil  and 
chosen  conductor  for  the  first  Bayreuth  Festival. 


TESTIMONY  OF  EXPERTS  433 

could  not  withhold  their  tribute  of  admiration.  Ber- 
lioz's testimony  that  he  conducted  "with  rare  precision 
and  energy  "  was  quoted  in  an  earlier  chapter.  H.  Dorn 
testified  that 

"as  conductor,  Wagner  achieved  a  notable  success  as  early  as 
in  his  Riga  days;  his  drill  ensured  great  precision  —  as  I  could 
attest  best  in  regard  to  my  own  opera,  Der  Schoffe  von  Paris  — 
and  when  he  stood  at  his  desk,  his  fiery  temperament  carried  away 
even  the  oldest  of  the  orchestral  players  irresistibly.  '  Always 
fresh,  always  lively,  always  a  little  fresh '  — these  were  his  favorite 
exhortations,  wliich  never  failed  of  their  proper  effect." 

Orpheus  moved  stones  with  his  song,  but  Wagner,  with 
his  conducting,  moved  Archphilistine  Hanslick  to  ex- 
claim almost  rapturously :  — 

"And  an  excellent  conductor  is  this  man,  a  conductor  with 
esprit  and  fire,  who  at  the  rehearsals,  witli  voice,  hands,  and  feet, 
carries  along  his  company  like  a  valiant  officer  and  is  sure  to  take 
his  fort.  ...  It  was  a  real  gratification  to  hear  this  Freischutz 
overture,  which  is  usually  played  off  at  a  monotonous,  slovenly 
pace,  for  once  with  a  new  swing  and  exceedingly  delicate  nuances. 
The  gradual  crescendo  and  decrescendo  of  the  horn  passage  in  the 
introduction  ;  the  somewhat  retarded  pace  of  the  melodious  pas- 
sage in  the  allegro  ;  the  broad  sustaining  of  the  two  fermatas  be- 
fore the  last  movement  .  .  .  produced  a  beautiful  effect." 

This  was  in  1861.     In  1872  Hanslick  wrote :  ^  — 

"Wagner  is  acknowledged  to  be  a  brilliant  conductor;  he  has 
poetic  intentions,  and  his  great  authority  over  the  players  enables 
him  to  carry  them  into  execution.  Ilis  energetic  reproduction  of 
the  Eroica  symphony,  with  its  fine  and  peculiar  nuances,  also  gave 
us  on  the  whole  a  genuine  pleasure." 

Among  the  prominent  German  critics  who  at  first 
opposed  Wagner   but   gradually  succumbed   before   the 

1  Concerte,  Componisten  und  Virtuosen,  p.  48. 


434  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

might  of  liis  genius,  was  Louis  Ehlert,  who  delivered 
himself  of  this  opinion :  ^  — 

"But  when  he  wrote  his  destructive  pamphlet  On  Conducting, 
he  placed  himself,  in  face  of  all  the  world,  at  the  head  of  the 
orchestra,  and  proved  that  he  was  a  better  conductor  than  all  the 
others.  The  astounding  certainty  of  feeling  which  he  had  for 
the  fundamental  tempo  of  the  compositions  of  other  masters,  was 
excelled  only  by  the  freedom  with  which  he  understood  how  to 
modify  it  in  the  proper  place." 

By  way  of  still  further  illustrating  Wagner's  personal- 
ity as  a  conductor,  two  more  extracts  may  here  find  a 
place.     Praeger  (235)  writes:  — 

"  Wagner  does  not  beat  in  the  old-fashioned,  automato-metro- 
nomic  manner.  He  leaves  off  beating  at  times  —  then  resumes 
again  —  to  lead  the  orchestra  up  to  a  climax,  or  to  let  them  soften 
down  to  a  pianissimo,  as  if  a  thousand  invisible  threads  tied  them 
to  his  baton.  .  .  .  Let  it  be  well  understood  that  Wagner  takes 
no  liberties  with  the  works  of  the  great  masters  ;  but  his  poetico- 
musical  genius  gives  him,  as  it  were,  a  second  sight  into  their 
hidden  treasures  ;  his  worship  for  them,  and  his  intense  study,  are 
amply  proved  by  his  conducting  them  all  v?ithout  the  score." 

Dr.  Francis  Hueffer  (of  the  London  Times)  whose  early 
death  was  so  great  a  loss  to  the  cause  of  enlightened 
musical  criticism  in  England,  wrote,  in  1872,  from  Bay- 
reuth :  — 

"  One  can  agree  with  the  good  old  Emperor  William,  who,  him- 
self entirely  innocent  of  musical  knowledge,  said,  after  Wagner's 
late  performance  of  Beethoven's  C  minor  symphony  in  Berlin,  in 
his  homely  way  :  '  You  see  now  what  a  great  general  can  do  with 
his  army  ! '  .  .  . 

"Each  individual  member,  from  the  first  violinist  to  the  last 
drummer,  is  equally  under  the  influence  of  a  great  personal  fas- 

1  Aus  der  Tonwelt,  II.  207. 


CONCERTS  AND   OPEBAS  IN  ZURICH        435 

cination,  which  seems  to  have  much  in  common  witli  the  effects  of 
animal  magnetism.  Every  eye  is  turned  towards  tlie  master,  and 
it  appears  as  if  the  musicians  derived  the  notes  they  play,  not  from 
the  books  on  the  desks,  but  from  Wagner's  glances  and  movements. 
I  remember  reading  in  Heine  a  description  of  Paganini's  playing 
the  violin,  and  how  every  one  in  the  audience  felt  as  if  the  virtuoso 
was  looking  at  and  performing  for  him  or  her  individually.  A  gun 
aimed  in  the  direction  of  many  different  persons  is  said  to  produce 
a  similar  illusory  effect ;  and  several  artists  in  Wagner's  orchestra 
and  chorus  assured  me  that  they  felt  the  fascinating  spell  of  the 
conductor's  eye  looking  at  them  during  the  whole  performance. 
Wagner,  in  common  life,  is  of  a  rather  reserved  and  extremely  gen- 
tlemanly deportment ;  but  as  soon  as  he  faces  his  band,  a  kind  of 
demon  seems  to  take  possession  of  him.  He  storms,  hisses,  stamps 
his  foot  on  the  ground,  and  performs  the  most  wonderful  gyratory 
movements  with  his  arms  ;  and  woe  to  the  wretch  who  wounds  his 
keen  ear  with  a  false  note  !  At  other  times,  when  the  musical 
waves  run  smoothly,  Wagner  ceases  almost  entirely  to  beat  the 
time,  and  a  most  winning  smile  is  the  doubly  appreciated  reward 
of  his  musicians  for  a  particularly  well  executed  passage." 

CONCERTS   AND   OPERAS    IN   ZURICH 

I  shall  now  present  two  pictures  of  Wagner's  activity 
as  conductor  during  the  years  1850  to  1855  —  in  Zurich 
and  in  London.  I  shall  ask  my  readers  to  look  first  on 
one  picture,  then  on  the  other:  they  will  then  realize 
what  an  energetic  man  of  genius  can  accomplish,  with  the 
most  inadequate  means,  on  virgin  soil,  where  there  is  a 
good  will  and  no  organized  opposition;  and  what,  on  the 
other  hand,  must  be  the  result  of  his  efforts  if  he  is  placed 
in  a  field  overgrown  with  the  weeds  of  so  called  "tradi- 
tion "  and  is  hampered  by  a  lot  of  Philistines  and  ignor- 
ant nobodies  in  his  attempts  to  pull  up  the  weeds  and 
sow  fresh  and  fragrant  flowers  in  their  place. 


436  WAGNER  AS  CONDUCTOR 

Although  Wagner  arrived  in  Zurich  before  Lohengrin 
had  been  performed,  he  found  that  the  fame  of  the  royal 
Saxon  conductor  and  composer  of  Rienzi,  the  Dutchman, 
and  Tannhduser  had  preceded  him;  for  in  the  very  lirst 
of  his  letters  to  Uhlig,  dated  August  9,  1849,  he  writes : 
**  To  my  great  astonishment  I  have  found  myself  a  celeb- 
rity here,  thanks  to  the  piano-scores  of  my  operas,  whole 
acts  of  which  have  been  performed  repeatedly  at  concerts 
and  at  choral  unions."    He  had  not  been  in  Zurich  many 
weeks  before  these  local  societies  made  efforts  to  secure 
his  services.     He  consented  to   conduct  Beethoven's  A 
major  symphony  for  them,  and  concluded  he  would  do 
something  to  shame  the  rich  merchants  of  that  city  into 
opening  their  purses  for  the  establishment  of  a  regular 
orchestra,  over  which  he  would  call  Uhlig  to  preside. 
In  the  following  year  he  rehearsed  a  few  more  sympho- 
nies, with  an  orchestra  of  mixed  professionals  and  ama- 
teurs, and  the  project  was  agitated  of  establishing  such 
an  orchestra  as  he  had  in  mind.     In  the  winter  of  1852 
he  brought  out  the  Fifth  Symphony,  quite  to  his  satis- 
faction; indeed,  he  intimates  to  Uhlig  that  it  went  better 
than  it  used  to  go  in  Dresden;  adding  in  his  playful 
way,  by  way  of  explanation,  that  in  Dresden  he  always 
had  been  compelled  by  his  respectful  awe  of  the  royal 
musicians  to  suppress  half  the  things  he  wanted  to  say 
at  rehearsals.     Among  other  pieces  conducted  by  him 
in  Zurich  was  the  Coriolanus  overture,  which  he  sup- 
plied with  a  poetic  analysis  that  was  printed  on  the 
programme. 

To  the  orchestra  he  had,  as  was  his  wont,  explained 
the  poetic  side  of  this  overture  at  the  rehearsals;  the 
sequel  was  that  when  he  began  to  rehearse  the  Tannhduser 


CONCERTS  AND   OPERAS  IN  ZURICH         437 

overture  with  the  players,  they,  of  their  own  accord,  asked 
for  a  similar  explanation,  because  then  they  could  "  play 
better."  The  result  was  most  gratifying.  As  Wagner 
himself  says  —  and  he  was  a  very  severe  judge :  — 

"  Most  striking  in  every  case  was  tlie  effect  of  my  method  upon 
the  executants  themselves.  I  have  here  in  ZUrich  coached  even 
the  most  ordinary  dance- musicians  up  to  performances  of  which 
neither  the  public  nor  themselves  had  previously  the  slightest  an- 
ticipation. ...  I  must  here  note  that  my  chief  explanations  are 
given  at  the  rehearsals  by  word  of  mouth,  and  at  the  appropriate 
passages." 

Of  the  production  of  his  overture  he  gives  this  re- 
markable account :  — 

"The  performance  of  the  Tannhiiuser  overture  has  now  taken 
place  ;  it  surpassed  all  my  expectations,  for  it  really  went  admira- 
bly. You  can  judge  of  this  by  its  effect,  which  was  terrific.  I  do 
not  speak  of  the  burst  of  applause  which  immediately  followed  it, 
but  of  the  symptoms  of  that  effect,  which  only  came  gradually  to 
my  knowledge.  The  women,  in  particular,  were  turned  inside  out ; 
the  impression  made  on  them  was  so  strong  that  they  had  to  take 
refuge  in  sobs  and  weeping.  Even  the  rehearsals  were  crowded, 
and  marvellous  were  the  accounts  given  to  me  of  the  first  effect, 
which  expressed  itself  chiefly  as  profound  sorrowfulness  ;  only 
after  this  had  found  relief  in  tears,  came  the  agreeable  feeling  of 
the  highest  exuberant  joy.  Certainly  this  effect  was  only  made 
possible  by  the  explanation  of  the  subject-matter  of  the  overture  ; 
but  —  though  my  own  work  again  made  a  most  powerful  impres- 
sion on  me  —  I  was  quite  astounded  at  this  unusually  drastic 
operation." 

He  adds  that  after  this  experience  he  began  to  set 
some  store  by  this  piece  of  music,  and  that  he  really 
could  not  think  of  any  other  tone-poem  capable  of  exer- 
cising a  like  powerful  influence  on  sensitive,  intelligent 


438  WAGNEB  AS  CONDUCTOR 

natures:  in  which  he  was  right;  for  to-day  this  overture 
is  the  most  popular  of  all  concert  pieces ;  and  in  view  of 
this  fact,  his  further  remarks  are  of  special  interest :  — 

"But  the  concert-hall  is  its  place,  and  not  the  theatre,  where  it 
is  a  mere  prelude  to  the  opera.  There  I  should  propose  to  give 
only  the  first  tempo  of  the  overture  ;  the  rest  —  in  the  fortunate 
event  of  its  being  understood  —  is  too  much  in  front  of  the  drama ; 
in  the  opposite  event,  too  little."  ^ 

The  grandest  concerts  of  the  Zurich  period  took  place 
a  year  later  (May,  1853).  Extraordinary  preparations 
were  made,  prompted  by  Wagner's  great  and  growing 
desire  to  hear  at  last  a  few  selections  from  Lohengrin 
adequately  performed.  The  orchestra  numbered  seventy- 
two  men,  many  of  whom  had  come  on  special  invitation 
from  various  German  cities,  and  the  majority  of  whom 
were  concert-masters  and  musical  directors.  They  all 
brought  their  best  instruments.  Wagner  had  had  a 
special  acoustic  reflector  arranged  for  the  occasion,  and 
the  effect  was  most  brilliant.  The  expenses  amounted 
to  nine  thousand  francs.^ 

With  such  an  orchestra,  he  at  last  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  hearing  parts  of  Lohengrin  given  to  perfection, 
and  he  states  that  their  effect  on  him  was  so  deep  that  it 

1  The  Ziirich  concerts  were  in  one  respect  productive  of  permanent 
good,  for  the  "  programmatic  explanations  "  made  for  them  have  been 
reprinted  in  Vol.  V.  of  Wagner's  works. 

2  It  is  worth  relating  that  of  tlie  Kapelhneisters  who  were  requested 
to  let  some  of  their  men  go  to  Ziirich,  the  old-fogy  Lachiier  of  Munich 
alone  refused  permission,  on  the  ground  that  "  no  passes  were  given  to 
artisans."  But  inasmuch  as  musicians  were,  about  tlie  same  time, 
wanted  at  the  Ziirich  theatre,  at  SH  a  mouth,  Lachuer  nnist  have  been 
mistaken  in  intimating  that  orchestral  players  are  not  artists.  Artisans 
would  not  work  for  such  a  sum.  Wagner  himself,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  offered  $40  a  month  if  he  would  become  conductor  of  the  Ziirich 
opera.  A  brick-layer  or  grave-digger  would  have  felt  justly  indignant 
at  such  an  offer. 


CONCERTS  AND  OPERAS  IN  ZURICH        439 

required  great  effort  to  retain  his  self-control.  For  the 
bridal  chorus  he  had  written  a  new  concert  ending,  and 
had  himself  rehearsed  the  choral  selections  with  his 
amateurs  till  they  "sang  as  if  possessed  by  the  devil." ^ 
The  applause  was  deafening,  and  at  the  close  of  the  con- 
cert the  composer-conductor  was  almost  buried  amid  the 
flowers  that  were  thrown  at  him.  Twice  the  concert  was 
repeated,  and  it  might  have  been  given  several  times 
more,  —  for  the  house  was  crowded  each  time,  —  but  the 
players  had  to  return  to  their  several  cities. 

This  concert  2  had  an  interesting  sequel.  The  third 
performance  coincided  with  his  fortieth  birthday,  and  the 
Ziu-ichers  took  this  occasion  to  express  their  admiration 
of  the  great  man  whom  exile  had  thrown  among  them,  by 
presenting  to  him  a  golden  cup,  through  the  liands  of  a 
young  lady  dressed  in  white.  Afterwards  there  was  a 
grand  torchlight  procession,  of  which  he  himself  gives 
this  amusing  account :  — 

"It  was  really  pretty  and  festive,  and  such  a  thing  had  never 
happened  before.  A  stand  for  the  orchestra  had  been  erected 
before  my  house  (in  the  Zeltweg)  ;  I  thought  at  first  they  were 
building  a  scaffold  for  me.  There  was  playing  and  singing  — 
speeches  were  exchanged,  and  hurrahs  were  given  me  by  a  count- 
less multitude.  I  almost  wish  you  could  have  heard  the  festal 
address ;  it  was  extremely  naive  and  cordial ;  I  was  celebrated  as 
a  genuine  Messiah." 

Operatic  matters  ^  naturally  interested  him  more  even 
than  these  occasional  concerts,  but  the  resources  of  such 

1  Read  letter  111  to  Liszt. 

2  A  specimen  Watcin-r  ])r(>f,'ramme,  as  arranged  by  the  composer  him- 
self, may  be  found  in  No.  48  of  the  Ulilig  letters. 

3  Read  his  suf^gestive  essay,  A  Theatre  in  Zurich  (Vol.  V.),  in  whicli 
he  flLscusses  the  best  way  of  interesting  educated  people  in  the  theatre, 
and  the  kind  of  works  suitable  for  a  small  city. 


440  WAG  NEE  AS   CONDUCTOR 

a  subordinate  opera-house  as  that  in  Zurich  did  not  afford 
any  playground  for  his  own  difficult  works;  and  so  it  was 
only  indirectly,  in  the  interest  of  his  pupils,  that  he 
came  at  first  into  contact  with  the  opera-house,  Praeger 
states  repeatedly  that  Wagner  never  gave  any  lessons  in 
his  life.  This  is  incorrect;  of  course  he  never  gave  any 
piano  lessons,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  could  not 
play  that  instrument  well  enough  to  do  so.  But  he  con- 
stantly gave  free  singing  lessons  to  the  vocalists  who 
were  learning  his  roles  —  and  very  valuable  lessons  they 
were;  what  is  more  important  still,  he  gave  personal 
instruction  to  three  of  the  greatest  conductors  of  our  time 
—  Hans  von  Biilow,  Hans  Eichter,  and  Anton  Seidl.  At 
the  time  now  under  consideration  he  had  assumed  charge 
of  two  pupils,  —  Carl  Eitter  and  Biilow.  In  Eitter,  to 
whom  there  are  numerous  references  in  the  letters,  he 
had  not  only  a  pupil  but  a  sympathetic  friend,  who, 
among  other  things,  spurred  him  on  to  Siegfried  even 
before  Liszt  had  done  so,  and  who  knew  how  to  take  his 
teacher's  part,  sometimes  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
natives. 

Biilow  had  first  learnt  to  admire  Wagner  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  at  the  memorable  performance  of  the  Ninth 
Symphony  in  Dresden.  He  also  heard  his  operas  in  that 
city,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  the  composer,  who 
wrote  into  his  album  prophetically :  — 

"K  the  genuine,  pure  enthusiasm  for  art  glows  within  your 
breast,  it  will  some  day  surely  burst  out  as  a  beautiful  flame.  But 
knowledge  is  what  fans  these  glowing  embers  into  vigorous  flames." 

A  few  years  later  Biilow  was  one  of  those  who  were 
attracted  to  Weimar  by  Liszt's  operatic  performances, 
and  finally  his  growing  enthusiasm  led  him  directly  to 


CONCERTS  AND    OPERAS  IN  ZURICH         441 

Ziiricli,  with  the  intention  of  placing  his  future  in  Wag- 
ner's hands. 

For  the  benefit  of  these  two  pujjils,  Wagner  allowed 
himself  to  be  persuaded  to  take  a  hand  in  the  operatic 
enterprises  at  Zurich.  He  began  with  operas  by  Weber 
and  Mozart,  and  by  the  composers  of  the  older  French 
school,  whom  he  especially  admired,  —  Boieldieu,  Mehul, 
Cherubini,  etc.,  — and  whose  works  he  considered  partic- 
ularly well  suited  for  smaller  opera-houses,  as  being  cal- 
culated to  develop  the  dramatic  as  well  as  the  musical 
faculties  of  the  singers.  He  carefully  attended  to  the 
daily  rehearsals,  and  finally  concluded,  as  there  were  some 
good  singers  in  the  cast,  not  to  leave  matters  in  the  hands 
of  his  inexperienced  pupil  Biilow,  but  to  preside  over  the 
first  performances  himself.  He  even  conducted  other 
operas,  including  Norma,  which  the  critics  declared 
"faultless,"  but  which  naturally  aroused  less  entluisiasm 
than  his  productions  -of  Dame  Blanche,  Freischiitz,  and 
Don  Juan,^  w\\\c\\  were  more  to  his  taste. 

The  great  success  of  his  Tannhdnser  overture  in  the 
concert-hall  led  his  admirers  to  urge  him  to  bring  out 
one  of  his  own  operas,  which  he  finally  consented  to  do, 
his  choice  falling  on  the  Flying  Dutchman.  The  directors 
did  all  they  could  to  make  it  a  success,  and  he  himself, 
in  his  anxiety  to  have  a  correct  performance,  not  only 
worked  at  the  rehearsals  like  a  beaver,  —  so  that  he  was 
afterwards  completely  prostrated,  and  vowed  he  would 
never  again  engage  in  practical  work  of  that  sort,  —  but 
he  even  paid,  with  his  own  money,  for  several  orchestral 

1  On  this  occasion  he  used  his  own  edition  of  Don  Jiinn,  as  revised 
by  him  for  Dresden.  Tlie  principal  changes  made  in  this  version  are 
described  in  a  letter  to  Uhlig  dated  Feb.  2(j,  1852. 


442  WAGNER  AS  CONDUCTOR 

players,  who  had  to  be  engaged  in  other  cities.-'  The 
opera  —  as  an  opera  —  was  a  brilliant  success  j  so  much 
so  that  it  was  repeated  four  times  in  the  course  of  a  week, 
at  specially  increased  prices,  and  many  more  perfor- 
mances might  have  been  given  had  not  an  engagement  at 
Geneva  called  away  the  company. 

And  yet  (as  the  Philistines  will  read  to  their  astonish- 
ment in  No.  62  of  the  Uhlig  letters),  he  was  not  satisfied, 
—  for  the  reason  already  intimated:  that  is,  the  singers 
interpreted  the  work  simply  as  a  musical  score,  —  an 
opera,  —  its  dramatic  features  being  beyond  their  powers. 
But  the  composer  was  consoled  for  this  inevitable  dis- 
appointment by  the  sympathy  of  the  women.  I  have 
already  cited  his  remarks  regarding  the  impression 
made  on  the  women  who  heard  the  Tannhduser  overture. 
So  again,  in  speaking  of  the  Diitchmayi,  he  says :  "  The 
women  were,  of  course,  again  in  the  lead :  after  the  third 
performance,  they  crowned  me  with  laurel,  and  smoth- 
ered me  in  flowers."  Similar  references  to  women  are 
numerous  in  his  correspondence  of  this  period :  — 

"  Yesterday,"  lie  writes  on  March  25,  1852,  "  I  received  a  letter 
from  a  lady  of  aristocratic  birth,  who  thanks  me  for  my  writings  ; 
'  they  have  been  her  salvation '  ;  she  declares  herself  a  thorough- 
paced revolutionary.  So  it  is  always  women  who,  with  regard 
to  me,  have  their  hearts  in  the  right  place,  whilst  I  must  almost 
entirely  give  up  men."  Again  he  says:  "With  women's  hearts 
it  has  always  gone  well  with  my  art ;  and  probably  because,  amid 
the  prevailing  vulgarity,  it  is  always  most  difficult  for  women  to 
let  their  souls  become  as  thoroughly  hardened  as  has  been  so  com- 
pletely the  case  with  our  political  men-folk.     Women  are  indeed 

1  Read  Letter  62  to  Uhlig,  and  see  how  the  Dresden  Philistines  inter- 
preted even  this  self-sacrifice  in  behalf  of  an  artistic  ideal  as  "  vanity," 
and  as  a  blemish  in  his  character  ! 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  LONDON  443 

the  music  of  life  ;  they  receive  everything   in   a  more  open  and 
unlimited  manner,  that  they  may  enrich  it  with  their  sympathy." 

In  another  letter  we  read,  concerning  women,  that  they 
alone  "  now  and  then  help  rae  to  an  illusion,  for  concern- 
ing men  I  can  no  longer  cherish  any. "     In  still  another :  — 

"Again  it  is  always  the  'ever-womanly'  which  fills  me  with 
sweet  illusions  and  warm  thrills  of  life's  delight.  The  moist,  shin- 
uig  eye  of  a  woman  often  saturates  me  with  fresh  hope."  And 
once  more:  "Believe  me,  this  maiden  is  far  ahead  of  you,  and 
why  ?  By  birth,  because  she  is  a  woman.  She  was  born  human  ; 
you  and  every  man  nowadays  are  born  Philistines,  and  slowly  and 
painfully  do  we,  poorest  of  creatures,  succeed  in  becoming  human. 
Only  women,  who  have  retained  what  they  were  at  their  birth,  can 
instruct  us ;  and  if  they  did  not  exist,  we  men,  in  our  paper  swath- 
ings,  would  go  to  the  ground  past  praying  for." 

FOUR   MONTHS   IN    LONDON 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  year  1854,  he  was  surprised 
by  a  letter  from  London  asking  him  if  he  would  assume 
the  function  of  conductor  of  the  Philharmonic  Society  for 
the  i>ext  season.  This  position  had  been  held  by  Mendels- 
sohn, Sterndale  Bennett,  Costa,  and  other  noted  musi- 
cians, and  was  much  coveted.  Before  answering  Yes  or 
Ko,  Wagner,  Yankee-like,  asked  two  questions  in  turn: 
(1)  Would  they  have  a  second  conductor  for  the  trivial 
pieces?  (2)  Would  he  be  able  to  have  as  many  rehearsals 
as  he  considered  necessary  to  secure  good  performances? 
In  the  meantime  he  asked  the  advice  of  Liszt,  wlio  urged 
him  to  accept. 

What  had  liappened  in  London  that  the  directors  of  the 
most  conservative  musical  society  in  that  city  sliould  seek 
the  as^'iistance  of  the  most  radical  and  revolutionary  musi- 


444  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

cian  the  world  has  ever  seen?  It  came  about  in  this  way. 
The  conductor,  Costa,  had  resigned,  and  a  new  man  of  at 
least  equal  note  was  to  be  found.  Praeger  claims  that 
he  was  the  first  to  suggest  Wagner.  Dr.  Hueffer  relates  ^ 
that 

"  at  a  meeting  of  the  directors  many  names  were  mentioned ; 
some  suggested  Lindpainter,  others  Berhoz ;  others  insisted  upon 
appointing  a  musician  of  English  birth,  or  at  least  one  residing  in 
England.  At  last  Mr.  Sainton  .  .  .  [leader  of  the  orchestra  and 
one  of  the  directors]  rose  to  his  feet  and  named  Wagner.  He 
himself  had  no  personal  cognizance  of  his  capacity,  but,  as  Mr. 
Sainton  remarked,  a  man  who  had  been  so  much  abused  must 
have  something  in  him.  This  sentiment  was  received  with  accla- 
mation, and  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  a  leap  in  the  dark 
should  be  made." 

Up  to  this  time  Wagner  had  been  practically  unknown 
in  England  —  a  country  which  does  not  move  with  start- 
ling velocity  in  musical  matters. 

"Only  half  a  year  ago,"  wrote  Liszt  (Jan.  25,  1855),  "people 
still  shook  their  heads,  yes,  some  hissed,  at  the  performance  of 
the  Tannhiiuser  overture  (conducted  by  Costa)  ;  Klindworth  and 
Kemeny  were  almost  the  only  ones  who  had  the  courage  to  ap- 
plaud loudly,  and  to  brave  the  old-established  philistinism  of  the 
Philharmonic  !  Well,  now  the  tone  will  be  changed,  and  you  will 
infuse  new  life  into  Old  England  and  the  Old  Philharmonic." 

A  rash  prophecy ! 

The  directors  followed  up  the  matter  promptly,  and 
actually  went  so  far  as  to  send  Mr.  Anderson,  their  treas- 
urer, to  Zurich,  to  make  the  preliminary  arrangements. 
With  the  promise  of  a  thousand  dollars  for  four  months' 
service  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  acceptance  of  the 

1  Half  a  Century  of  Music  in  England,  p.  42. 


FOUR  ilOXTHS  IN  LONDON  446 

unwilling  composer  —  unwilling,  because,  as  he  wrote  tt) 
Liszt,  "  it  is  not  my  mission  to  go  to  London  to  conduct 
Philharmonic  concerts  even  if  —  as  is  desired  —  I  produce 
at  them  compositions  of  my  own, —  for  I  have  written  no 
concert  pieces."  The  paltry  sum  offered  ("I  have  sold 
myself  at  a  very  low  price, "  he  wrote)  would  have  hardly 
tempted  him  to  interrupt  the  composition  of  the  Walkilre 
for  a  task  so  much  less  congenial ;  what  finally  persuaded 
him  to  go  was  the  hope  of  making  this  undertaking  the 
entering  wedge  for  a  series  of  performances  in  German  of 
his  early  operas,  especially  Lohengrin,  Avhich  he  himself 
was  so  anxious  to  hear.  He  little  dreamt  that  almost 
forty  years  would  have  to  elapse  before  English  musical 
taste  would  outgrow  its  absurdly  exclusive  Handel  and 
j\Iendelssohn  worship  sufficiently  to  make  possible  a 
financially  successful  series  of  Wagner  performances  in 
the  original  language  (1892). 

Mr.  Anderson  immediately  telegraphed  the  news  of  the 
successful  engagement  to  London,  where  it  created  a  great 
commotion.  The  new  Philharmonic  Society  had  already 
engaged  Berlioz  for  their  concerts ;  now  the  Old  Philhar- 
monic tried  to  overtrump  their  rivals  in  the  choice  of  a 
revolutionary  musician,  —  a  man,  too,  who  had  expressed 
his  disapproval  of  Mendelssohn,  the  English  god  of  music ! 
This  was  not  to  be  tolerated.  The  Philistines  immedi- 
ately sharpened  their  quills,  preparing  to  dip  them  into 
gall  even  before  Wagner's  arrival.  Mr.  James  Davison, 
who  enjoyed  great  influence  on  account  of  his  vigorous 
style  and  his  dual  position  as  the  musical  editor  of  the 
leading  political  paper  {Times)  and  the  leading  musical 
paper  (Musical  World),  opened  his  batteries  with  an 
article  in  which  he  made  such  statements  as  these :  — 


446  WAGNER   AS  CONDUCTOR 

"It  is  well  known  that  Richard  "Wagner  has  little  respect  for 
any  music  but  his  own ;  that  he  holds  Beethoven  to  have  been  a 
child  until  he  wrote  the  posthumous  quartets  and  the  Mass  in  D, 
which  he  (Wagner)  regards  as  his  own  starting-points  (!)... 
and  that,  finally  he  is  earnestly  bent  upon  upsetting  all  the 
accepted  forms  and  canons  of  art  ...  in  order  the  more  surely  to 
establish  his  doctrine  that  rhythm  is  superfluous,  counterpoint  a 
useless  bore,  and  every  musician,  ancient  and  modern,  himself 
excepted,  either  an  impostor  or  a  useless  blockhead." 

These  statements  —  and  they  are  but  samples  of  what 
most  of  the  ''  critical "  articles  of  the  London  papers  con- 
tained —  were,  of  course,  malicious  and  ridiculous  false- 
hoods ;  but  truthfulness  is  a  virtue  with  which  Wagner's 
opponents  were  never  on  very  friendly  terms.  As  for 
the  public,  what  else  could  it  do  but  believe  the  musical 
"  experts  "  ?  Wagner  was  given  a  bad  name  even  before 
he  appeared  on  the  scene  to  plead  his  own  cause :  in  con- 
sequence, the  next  four  months  became  a  period  of 
misery  and  constant  annoyance  conspicuous  even  in  his 
wretched  life  of  disappointments. 

The  most  complete  and  interesting  account  of  this 
visit  to  London  was  written  by  the  late  F.  Praeger,  who 
devotes  about  fifty  pages  of  his  Wagner  as  I  Kneio  Him  to 
this  episode.  Special  value  attaches  to  this  account  be- 
cause Praeger  was  Wagner's  informal  agent  in  arranging 
details  with  the  Society,  and  because  several  letters  from 
him  to  Praeger  are  printed  in  these  chapters.  In  one  of 
these  letters,  Wagner,  still  in  Zurich,  remarks :  — 

"That  the  directors  of  the  Philharmonic  have  no  idea  whom 
they  liave  engaged,  I  am  perfectly  sure ;  but  they  will  soon  dis- 
cover. They  might  have  been  more  generous,  for  if  these  gentle- 
men intentionally  go  abroad  to  find  a  celebrity,  they  ought  to  have 
been  inclined  to  spend  a  little  extra." 


FOUR   MONTHS  IN   LONDON  447 

He  also  asks  Praeger  to  sound  the  directors  regarding 
his  plan  of  giving  a  complete  Wagner  concert,  either  as 
one  of  the  Philharmonic  series,  or  as  an  extra,  on  his  own 
account.  Praeger  saw  the  directors  and  found  that  they 
"  feared  hazarding  the  reputation  of  their  concerts  by  the 
devotion  of  a  whole  evening  to  Wagner's  works,"  but 
were  willing  to  place  some  of  his  pieces  on  the  regular 
programmes.  To  Praeger's  invitation  to  make  his  home 
his  own,  the  composer  replied:  — 

"  As  you  open  your  hospitable  doors  to  me,  I  shall  avail  myself 
of  your  kindness,  and  if  you  will  let  me  stay  until  I  have  found  a 
suitable  apartment,  I  shall  be  grateful  to  you,  and  shall  heartily 
beg  pardon  of  your  amiable  wife  for  my  intrusion.  I  shall  be  in 
London  in  the  first  days  of  March.  I  sincerely  repeat  to  you  that 
I  have  no  great  expectations,  for  really  I  do  not  count  any  more 
upon  anything  in  this  world.  But  I  shall  be  delighted  to  gain 
your  closer  friendship.  The  English  language  I  do  not  know,  and 
I  am  totally  without  gift  for  modern  languages,  and  at  present  am 
averse  to  learning  any,  on  account  of  the  strain  on  my  memory. 
I  must  help  myself  througli  with  French." 

In  his  next  letter  he  says,  in  regard  to  his  residence  in 
Praeger's  house,  that 

"  As  a  number  of  strangers  are  likely  to  call,  I  hope  to  escape 
them  in  solitude  of  unknown  regions.  You  must  not  think  this 
strange,  as  I  isolate  myself  at  home  the  whole  morning,  and  do  not 
permit  a  soul  to  come  near  me  when  at  work,  unless  it  be  Peps 
[his  dog].  You  will  remember,  too,  when  I  did  something  similar 
to  this  in  Dresden,  and  left  the  world,  to  go  into  retireuient  with 
August  Roeckel." 

He  had  promised  to  be  in  London  a  week  before 
the  first  concert,  and  kept  his  promise  to  the  hour  by 
arriving  on  March  5.  He  stayed  some  time  at  Praeger's 
(31  Milton  St.,  Dorset  Square)  and  afterwards  took  rooms 


i48  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

at  22  Portland  Terrace,  Regent's  Park.  On  the  morning 
after  his  arrival,  Praeger  had  some  difficulty  in  persuad- 
ing him  to  lay  aside  his  "  revolutionary  "  slouched  hat, 
and  wear  such  headgear  as  became  the  leader  of  London's 
most  conservative  musical  society.  Then  they  drove  to 
tlie  residence  of  Mr.  Anderson,  where  all  went  well  until 
a  "  prize-symphony  "  by  Lachner  was  mentioned  as  one 
of  the  pieces  selected  for  performance  at  the  concerts. 
At  this 

"  Wagner  sprang  from  his  seat,  as  if  shot  from  a  gun,  exclaiming 
loudly  and  angrily,  '  Have  I  therefore  left  my  quiet  seclusion  in 
Switzerland  to  cross  the  sea  to  conduct  a  prize-symphony  by 
Lachner  ?  no  ;  never !  If  that  be  a  condition  of  the  bargain,  I 
at  once  reject  it  and  return.  What  brought  me  away  was  the 
eagerness  to  hear  a  far-failied  orchestra  and  to  perform  worthily 
the  works  of  the  great  masters,  but  no  Kapellmeister  music  ;  and 
that  of  a  Lachner  —  bah  ! '  Mr.  Anderson  sat  aghast  in  his  chair, 
looking  with  bewildered  surprise  on  this  unexpected  outbreak  of 
passion,  delivered  with  extraordinary  volubility,  partly  in  French 
and  partly  in  German." 

Praeger  gave  a  more  tranquillizing  translation  of  it  to 
Anderson,  and  peace  was  restored  by  the  promise  that 
the  offensive  symphony  would  be  given  up. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Wagner's  opposition  to 
this  piece  was  instigated  by  the  remembrance  of  Lach- 
ner's  refusal  to  let  his  musicians  attend  that  Zurich 
concert  referred  to  in  the  last  chapter.  His  mind  was 
entirely  above  such  petty  revenge.  He  honestly  and 
heartily  detested  the  artificial,  shallow,  empty,  but  correct 
symphonies  which  fourth-rate  musicians  like  Lachner 
could  write  by  the  yard;  and,  as  Hueffer  has  well  re- 
marked, "  the  mere  invention  of  the  incomparable  term 
Kapellmeistermusik  for   this   kind   of  production  would 


FOUR   MONTHS  IN  LONDON  449 

secure  Wagner  a  place  amongst  satirical  writers."  It 
was  to  avoid  conducting  such  trash  that  he  had  been 
anxious  to  have  an  assistant  —  a  point  which  he  had  been 
obliged  to  waive.  The  eight  programmes  which  he  had 
to  conduct  are  given  in  full  in  Praeger's  volume;  and  a 
perusal  of  them  shows  that  his  fears  regarding  their  prob- 
ably mixed  and  partly  trivial  character  were  realized. 

"  A  Beethoven  symphony  certainly  gives  me  great  pleasure," 
he  wrote  to  Fischer,  a  few  weeks  later,  "but  a  whole  concert  of 
this  kind,  with  everything  which  it  includes,  deeply  disgusts  me  ; 
and  with  great  inner  vexation,  I  see  myself  compelled  to  conduct 
stuff  which  I  thought  I  should  never  have  to  perform  again." 

Next  to  the  miscellaneous  character  of  the  programmes, 
which  were  utterly  inartistic  in  their  arrangement,  what 
annoyed  him  was  their  interminable  length.  This,  com- 
bined with  the  expensiveness  of  London  players,  made  it 
impossible  to  have  more  than  one  rehearsal  for  eacli  piece. 
"  Perfectly  satisfactory  performances,  which  alone  could 
reward  me,"  he  wrote  to  Liszt,  "I  cannot  give  anyAvay; 
we  have  too  few  rehearsals  ^  for  that,  and  everything 
proceeds  too  mechanically."  For  the  second  concert 
alone,  at  which  the  Ninth^Symphony  was  given,  he  suc- 
ceeded, with  mucTT  difficulty,  in  getting  two  rehearsals 
—  of  the  same  work  of  which  he  had  had  dozens  in  Dres- 
den, while  Habeneck  of  the  Paris  Conservatoire  had  kept 
at  it  for  several  years !  No  wonder  that  he  had  to  write 
to  Fischer  that  "  the  choruses  were  miserable.     If  I  only 

1  The  extraordinarily  conservative  and  immutable  character  of  the 
London  Philharmonic  Society  is  reveahid  in  the  curious  fact  tliat  Mr. 
C'owcii  should  have  resigned  from  its  comluctdrship  in  lHi)2,  l)ecanso  he 
lio  longer  tolerate  tlie  same  absurd  policy  complained  of  by  Wag- 
ner in  1855  !  That  such  a  society  should  have  invited  Wagner  to  be  its 
leader,  was  more  than  a  miracle  —  it  was  a  huge  joke 


450  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

had  your  Dresden  Palm-Sunday  choir!"  With  such 
scant  rehearsals  it  was  impossible  to  give  performances 
of  any  classical  masterworks  except  in  Mendelssohn's 
way  of  passing  over  everything  hurriedly  and  mechani- 
cally, concealing  defects  as  well  as  possible.  With  this 
the  Philharmonic  audiences  had  apparently  been  con- 
tented hitherto,  and  Wagner's  attempts  to  introduce  more 
poetic  readings,  could  not  possibly  be  carried  out  with 
such  few  rehearsals. 

To  add  insult  to  injury,  the  directors,  intimidated  by 
the  critics,  and  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  Wagner  was  an 
infinitely  greater  genius  than  Mendelssohn,  constantly 
irritated  him  by  holding  up  their  Jewish  idol  as  a  model 
to  him;  if  he  chose  a  faster  or  slower  tempo  than  the 
orchestra  had  previously  taken,  or  introduced  a  poetic 
miance,  he  was  remonstrated  with  and  requested  to  take 
things  in  the  regular  way,  since  Mendelssohn  himself  had 
taken  them  so :  as  he  complains  to  Liszt :  — 

"  '  Sir,  we  are  not  used  to  this '  ;  tliat  is  the  eternal  echo  I  hear. 
Neither  can  the  orchestra  recompense  me  :  it  consists  almost  exclu- 
sively of  Englishmen,  i.  e.  clever  machines  which  can  never  be  got 
into  the  right  swing:  handicraft  and  business  kill  everything. 
Then  there  is  the  public,  which,  I  am  assured,  is  very  favorably 
inclined  towards  me,  but  can  never  be  got  out  of  itself,  which 
accepts  the  most  emotional  like  the  most  tedious  things,  without 
ever  showing  that  it  has  received  a  real  impression.  And,  in  addi- 
tion to  this,  the  ridiculous  Mendelssohn  worship." 

He  was  found  fault  with  for  other  things.  "We  have 
been  informed  on  the  best  authority, "  writes  Dr.  Hueffer,  ^ 
"  that  Wagner,  when  he  had  to  conduct  a  work  by  Mendels- 
sohn, deliberately  and  slowly  put  on  a  pair  of  white  kid 

1  Half  a  Century  of  Music  in  England,  p.  51. 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  LONDON  451 

gloves  to  indicate  the  formal,  or,  one  might  say  fasliion- 
able,  character  of  the  music."  This  amusing  and  harm- 
less bit  of  irony  on  the  part  of  the  Mendelssohn-tormented 
genius,  of  course  aroused  the  ire  of  the  press  anew. 
Then,  again,  he  was  found  fault  with  for  his  "presump- 
tion" in  conducting  Beethoven's  scores  by  heart  —  a  feat 
which  "  even  Mendelssohn  "  had  been  unable  to  accom- 
plish. He  was  given  to  understand  that  this  was  consid- 
ered a  slight  on  the  classical  composers;  and  after  a 
rehearsal  of  one  of  Beethoven's  symphonies,  he  yielded 
in  so  far  to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  him  as  to 
promise  to  bring  along  a  score  at  the  public  performance. 
He  did  so.  After  the  performance  the  parties  who  had 
urged  him  to  use  a  score  crowded  around  him  with  con- 
gratulations on  the  excellent  result  of  their  advice  — 
until  one  of  them  happened  to  glance  at  the  score  on  his 
desk,  which  proved  to  be  —  Rossini's  Barher  of  Seville !  ^ 
The  Philharmonic  orchestra  was  not  a  bad  one  as 
orchestras  went  in  that  day ;  but  how  far  it  was  from  the 
modern  standard  —  which  alone  could  have  satisfied  Wag- 
ner—  may  be  inferred  from  such  a  fact  as  this  that 
Concert-master  Sainton  had  to  finger  certain  passages  in 
the  Tannhduser  overture  for  each  one  of  the  first  violinists ! 
Furthermore,  the  orchestra  had  been  allowed  to  fall  into 
slovenly  habits  by  its  previous  conductors,  Mendelssohn 
included.  On  this  topic  the  reader  will  find  some  very 
instructive  remarks  in  Wagner's  essay  On  Conducting, 
from  which  I  will  quote  a  few  lines.     Referring  to  the 

1  This  anec<Jote,  if  not  literally  true,  is  at  any  rate  hen  trovuto.  Con- 
ductin}<  symphonies  witliout  a  score  is  no  longer  so  rare  a  feat  as  to 
seem  an  insult  or  a  crime.  Eminent  Wagnerian  conductors  like  Mr. 
Seidl,  Mr.  Thomas,  Mr.  Nikisch  do  it  occasionally,  and  Hans  Richter 
does  it  habitually ;  nay,  he  conducts  whole  Wagner  operas  without 
a  score. 


452  WAGNER  AS  CONDUCTOR 

Mendelssohn  "traditions,"  followed  by  the  London  or- 
chestra, he  says :  — 

"The  music  poured  on  like  water  from  a  public  fountain;  to 
hold  back  was  impossible,  and  every  allegro  ended  as  a  veritable 
presto.  To  interfere  with  this  custom  was  a  painful  duty ;  for 
when  the  correct  and  properly-modified  tempo  was  introduced,  all 
the  faults  of  execution  and  expression  which  had  been  hidden  amid 
the  previous  flow  of  the  music-fountain,  were  suddenly  revealed. 
The  orchestra  never  played  otherwise  than  mezzo  forte  ;  never  was 
there  a  real  forte  or  a  real  piano." 

Praeger  relates  that  "at  first  the  orchestra  could  not 
understand  the  pianissimo  required  in  the  opening  of  the 
Lohengrin  prelude;  and  then  the  crescendos  and  dimin- 
uendos, which  Wagner  insisted  upon  having,  surprised 
the  executants.  They  turned  inquiringly  to  each  other, 
seemingly  annoyed  at  his  fastidiousness."  They  were 
willing  to  learn,  however,  and  after  the  first  concert 
Wagner  testified  in  a  letter  to  Liszt :  — 

"The  orchestra  alone  interests  me  here  ;  it  has  learned  to  love 
me  and  is  enthusiastically  in  my  favor."  And  again,  when  all  was 
over,  and  he  was  back  in  Ziirich,  he  wrote  of  the  orchestra:  "I 
could  see  that  it  was  always  most  willing  to  follow  my  intentions, 
as  far  as  bad  habits  and  want  of  time  would  allow." 

Things  went  on  as  well  as  could  be  expected  under 
such  circumstances,  until  the  fourth  concert  came  along, 
on  April  30.  The  programme  of  this  was  a  characteristic 
Philharmonic  monstrosity  —  a  batch  of  pieces,  good,  bad, 
and  indifferent  —  enough  to  last  three  or  four  hours,  and 
jumbled  together  without  the  slightest  regard  for  artistic 
sequence  or  contrast;  to  wit:  (1)  symphony  by  Lucas; 
(2)  Romanza,  Meyerbeer;  (3)  Nonetto,  Spohr;  (4)  Aria, 
Beethoven;   (5)  Overture,  Weber;  (6)  Symphony,   Bee- 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  LONDON  453 

thoven;  (7)  Duetto,  Mozart;  (8)  Overture,  Onslow ! !  This 
programme  came  very  near  sending  Wagner  precipitately- 
back  to  the  Alps. 

»'0n  that  evening,"  he  wrote  to  Fischer,  "I  was  really  in  a 
furious  rage,  that  after  the  A  major  symphony  I  should  have  had 
to  conduct  a  miserable  vocal  piece  and  a  trivial  overture  of  Onslow's  ; 
and,  as  is  my  way,  in  deepest  dudgeon,  I  told  my  friends  aloud 
that  I  had  that  day  conducted  for  the  last  time  ;  that  on  the  morrow 
I  should  send  in  my  resignation,  and  journey  home.  By  chance  a 
concert  singer,  R. — a  young  German  Jew  —  was  present:  he 
caught  up  my  words  and  conveyed  them  all  hot  to  a  newspaper 
reporter.  Ever  since  then  rumors  have  been  flying  about  in  the 
German  papers,  which  have  misled  even  you.  I  need  scarcely  tell 
you  that  the  representations  of  my  friends,  who  escorted  me  home, 
succeeded  in  making  me  withdraw  the  hasty  resolution  conceived 
in  a  moment  of  despondency." 

The  gunpowder  of  this  explosion  came  from  the  grow- 
ing feeling  of  disappointment  of  all  his  hopes.  A  survey 
of  the  situation  showed  him  that  what  had  been  practically 
his  sole  motive  in  accepting  the  London  engagement  — 
the  hope  of  making  it  the  entering  wedge  for  a  series  of 
performances  of  his  operas  in  German  —  was  an  impos- 
sibility. Not  even  in  the  inadequate  concert-hall  was 
he  able  to  introduce  himself  properly,  the  Tannhduser 
overture  and  a  few  short  selections  from  Lohengrin  being 
all  that  the  directors  saw  fit  to  place  on  their  eight  pro- 
grammes. Consequently  he  was  condemned  to  the  fruit- 
less and  painful  task  of  conducting  interminable  concerts 
of  poorly  rehearsed  music  much  of  which  he  despised, 
while  he  could  not  even  impose  on  the  performers  his 
own  style  of  interpretation.  Moreover  he  found  it  im- 
possible, under  such  circumstances,  to  continue  his  work 
on  the  Walkilre.     No  wonder  he  wrote  to  Liszt :  — 


454  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

"  I  live  here  like  one  of  the  lost  souls  in  hell.i  I  never  thought 
that  I  could  sink  again  so  low.  The  misery  I  feel  in  having  to  live 
in  these  disgusting  surroundings  is  beyond  description,  and  I  now 
realise  that  it  was  a  sin,  a  crime,  to  accept  this  invitation  to  London, 
which  in  the  luckiest  case  must  have  led  me  away  from  my  real 
path." 

Philistines  find  it  difficult  to  understand  such  a  state 
of  mind.  Indeed,  Mr.  Joseph  Bennett  considers  the  above 
as  "  language  which  must  strike  every  reader  as  ridicu- 
lously exaggerated";  and  he  frankly  declares  that  if 
Wagner  was  not  happy  it  was  all  his  own  fault;  he  was 
guilty  of  "childish  petulance,"  and  was  a  ^' self-tormeyited 
man."  Mr.  Bennett  is  quite  right.  Here  was  a  man 
"  abusing  the  people  whose  money  he,  of  his  own  free  will, 
was  taking."  This  was  certainly  outrageous,  esiDCcially 
when  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  Zurich  he  had  been  offered 
only  ten  dollars  a  week  for  his  services  as  operatic  con- 
ductor, and  that  five  dollars  a  week  was  all  he  earned 
during  the  four  months  he  devoted  to  writing  his  Opera 
and  Drama;  while  here  in  London  the  ungrateful  man 
actually  received  no  less  than  £200  for  102  days,  or  $9.50 
a  day !  And  what  folly  to  growl  because  he  could  have 
only  one  rehearsal  for  each  concert ;  for  did  not  that  leave 
him  more  time  for  other  things,  while  he  got  his  $9.50 
a  day  all  the  same?  Why,  again,  should  he  have  wished 
to  produce  a  whole  opera  of  his  in  London,  when  the  critics 
made  such  mince-meat  of  the  fragments  they  heard? 
What  would  the  critics  have  said  of  the  whole  of  Tann- 
hduser  when  their  leader  wrote  in  the  Times  of  May  16, 
1855 : — 

1  He  was  reading  Dante's  Inferno  at  this  time,  and  wrote  Liszt  a 
long  letter  regarding  it,  shortly  afterwards  (No.  190). 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  LONDON  455 

"Of  the  overture  to  Tannhdiiser  we  have  already  spoken,  and 
the  execution  last  night  gave  us  no  cause  to  modify  our  first 
impression.  A  more  inflated  display  of  extravagance  and  noise 
has  rarely  been  submitted  to  an  audience,  and  it  was  a  pity  to  hear 
so  magnificent  an  orchestra  engaged  in  almost  fruitless  attempts  at 
accomplishing  things  which,  even  if  readily  practicable,  would  lead 
to  nothing."  And  once  more,  on  June  12  :  "  Even  the  most  won- 
derful execution  could  not  make  this  Taunhauser  music  acceptable, 
and  we  sincerely  hope  that  no  execution,  however  superb,  will 
ever  make  such  senseless  discord  pass,  in  England,  for  a  manifes- 
tation of  art  and  genius." 

All  this  of  the  Tannhuuser  overture,  now  the  most 
popular  piece  in  the  concert  repertory !  Of  course,  when 
Wagner,  who  was  then  engaged  on  the  Walkiire,  read  in 
the  leading  London  papers  such  "  criticisms  "  on  an  opera 
written  ten  years  before,  he  ought  to  have  smiled  and 
felt  happy.     If  he  did  not,  he  was  "  self -tormented. " 

I  have  called  this  general  situation  the  gunpowder 
which  led  to  the  explosion  and  the  intended  resignation 
after  the  fourth  concert.  But  the  tiny  spark  which  set 
off  the  explosion  was  no  doubt  an  incident  of  that  concert 
thus  related  by  Praeger.:  — 

"  During  the  aria  from  Les  Huguenots,  the  tenor,  Herr  Reichardt, 
after  a  few  bars'  rest,  did  not  retake  his  part  at  the  proper  moment, 
upon  which  Wagner  turned  to  him, — of  coui'se  without  stopping 
the  band,  —  whereupon  the  singer  made  gestures  to  the  audience 
indicating  that  the  error  lay  icith  Wayner.  .  .  .  Wagner  was  well 
aware  of  the  unfriendliness  of  a  section  of  the  critics,  and  in  all 
probability  capital  would  be  made  out  of  this.  At  the  end  of  the 
first  part  of  the  concert  I  went  to  him  in  the  artists'  room.  His 
high-pitched  excitement  and  uncontrolled  utterances,  it  was  easy 
to  foresee,  boded  no  good.  And  when  we  reached  home  after  the 
concert,  there  ensued  a  positive  storm  of  passion.  Wagner  at  his 
best  was  impulsive  and  vehement ;  suffering  such  a  miserable 
insinuation  as  to  his  incapacity,  he  grew  furious." 


456  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

He  was  determined  to  return  to  Zurich  at  once,  and 
only  for  his  wife's  sake,  his  three  principal  friends, 
Sainton,  Luders,  and  Praeger,  finally  persuaded  him  to 
remain. 

And  now  note  the  characteristic  echo  of  this  event  in 
Germany.     Other  nations  are  proud  of  their  great  men 

—  even  if  they  are  not  so  very  great.  Not  so  the  Ger- 
mans. They  were  at  that  time  engaged  in  the  national 
sport  of  systematically  ignoring  the  greatest  philosopher 
their  country  has  ever  produced, —  Arthur  Schopenhauer, 

—  and  at  the  same  time  they  were  trying  to  kill  off  their 
greatest  composer  —  not  by  ignoring  him,  which  is  not  so 
easy  in  the  case  of  an  opera-composer,  but  by  doing  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  cripple  and  malign  him.  Liszt 
had  written  to  Wagner  that "  the  English  edition  of  Phil- 
istinism is  not  a  bit  better  than  the  German,  and  the 
chasm  between  the  public  and  us  remains  equally  wide 
everywhere."  But  I  believe  that  Liszt  was  unjust  to  the 
British  Philistine.  Had  Wagner  been  an  Englishman 
trying  to  make  his  fame  in  a  German  city,  Liszt  could 
have  hardly  written  as  he  did  after  this  "  resignation  " 
incident :  "  In  Diisseldorf  I  was  told  that  you  had  already 
left  London!  The  envious  Philistines  were  extremely 
delighted  with  this  news."  So  they  were  with  the 
Tannliauser  fiasco  in  Paris,  five  years  later;  with  the 
financial  failure  of  the  Bayreuth  Festival  in  1876;  and 
with  all  the  misfortunes  that  pursued  him  to  the  end  of 
his  life. 

Towards  the  close  of  his  engagement  in  London,  mat- 
ters took  a  more  favorable  turn,  thanks  partly  to  the 
kindness  of  the  Queen,  and  partly  to  that  love  of  fair- 
play  and  common  decency  which  is  one  of  the  noblest 


FOUR  MONTHS  IN  LONDON  457 

traits  of  the  English  mind.  The  disgraceful  hounding  of 
the  poor  composer  by  the  London  critics  had  the  oppo- 
site effect  of  what  they  intended.  While  they,  with  a 
few  honorable  exceptions,  were  engaged  in  mud-throwing, 
the  public  became  more  and  more  demonstratively  favor- 
able to  the  persecuted  master.  At  the  fifth  concert,  after 
the  Tannhiiuser  overture,  tumultuous  applause  followed, 
the  audience  rising  and  waving  handkerchiefs;  indeed, 
Mr.  Anderson  informed  Praeger  "that  he  had  never 
known  such  a  display  of  excitement  at  a  Philharmonic 
concert."  But  better  things  still  were  to  follow.  At  the 
seventh  concert  the  Tannhiiuser  overture  was  repeated  by 
command  of  the  Queen,  who  attended  with  the  Prince 
Consort,  although  she  appeared  at  such  concerts  hardly 
once  a  year.  Concerning  this  event,  we  must  quote  Wag- 
ner's own  narrative  to  Fischer :  — 

"  If  in  itself  it  was  extremely  gratifying  that  the  Queen  should 
pay  no  regard  to  my  highly  compromised  political  position  (which 
had  been  dragged  to  light  with  great  malignity  by  the  Times),  and 
that  she  should  without  hesitation  assist  at  a  public  performance 
under  my  direction,  then  her  further  behavior  towards  me  afforded 
me  at  last  an  affecting  compensation  for  all  the  contrarieties  and 
vulgar  animosities  which  I  have  here  endured. 

"She  and  Prince  Albert,  who  both  sat  immediately  facing  tlie 
orchestra,  applauded  after  the  Tannhduser  overture  —  with  which 
the  first  part  concluded  —  with  graciousness  almost  amounting  to 
a  challenge,  so  that  the  public  broke  out  into  lively  and  prolonged 
applause.  During  the  interval  the  Queen  summoned  me  to  the 
Salon,  and  received  me  before  her  Court  with  the  cordial  words : 
'  Your  composition  has  enraptured  me.'  " 

He  adds  that  in  a  long  conversation,  in  which  Prince 
Albert  also  took  part,  the  Queen  further  inquired  about 
his  works,  and  asked  if  it  would  not  be  possible  to  give 


458  WAGNER  AS   CONDUCTOR 

his  operas  in  an  Italian  version  in  London;  to  which  he 
was  obliged  to  give  a  negative  answer  (for  his  experi- 
ences had  shown  him  that  England  was  not  yet  ripe  for 
such  a  scheme).  He  concludes :  "  At  the  end  of  the  con- 
cert the  Queen  and  the  Prince  applauded  me  again  most 
courteously.  .  .  .  The  last  concert  is  on  the  twenty- 
fifth,  and  I  leave  on  the  twenty-sixth,  so  as  to  resume 
in  my  quiet  retreat  my  sadly  interrupted  work." 

Further  interesting  details  regarding  this  event  are 
given  in  a  letter  to  Liszt  (No.  191),  in  which  he  says  of 
the  Queen  and  the  Prince  that  "  they  were  really  the  first 
persons  in  England  who  dared  to  come  out  openly  and 
without  reserve  in  my  favor :  if  you  consider  that  they 
were  dealing  with  a  politically  notorious  individual, 
against  whom  a  warrant  was  out  on  the  charge  of  high 
treason,  you  will  appreciate  my  sentiment  when  I  say 
that  I  feel  the  most  cordial  gratitude  towards  both  for 
their  actions."  He  justly  looked  on  the  attitude  of  the 
audience  as  "a  demonstration  against  the  critics,"  and 
thus  describes  the  scene  at  the  close  of  the  last  concert :  — 

"The  orchestral  players  arose  solemnly  and  joined  with  the 
large  audience  that  filled  the  hall  in  an  outburst  of  applause  which 
continued  so  long  that  it  actually  caused  me  some  embarrassment. 
Then  all  the  players  came  to  have  a  parting  handshake,  and  after- 
wards men  and  women  from  the  audience  gave  me  their  hands, 
which  I  pressed  cordially.  Thus  this  —  essentially  most  absurd  — 
London  expedition  finally  won  the  aspect  of  a  triumph  for  me,  in 
which  I  was  at  any  rate  pleased  by  the  attitude  of  independence 
which  the  public  assumed  against  the  critics.  .  .  .  With  the  Queen 
I  was  truly  delighted  ;  to  some  friends  here  I  myself  gave  great 
pleasure,  and  let  that  suffice.  The  Neio  Philharmonic,''''  he  adds 
sarcastically,  "would  like  to  have  me  next  season:  what  more 
could  I  want  ?" 


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